Wicked? What? Oh Dear Oz!
by Dante Andy Anderson
Summary: Rachel takes a tumble off stage and somehow ends up in a magical place she didn't even think existed. Now she has to embark on a journey while teaming up with familiar characters just so she get back to Lima, because really 'There's just not place like home'.
1. Chapter 1

**WICKED? WHAT? OH DEAR OZ?!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except this Storyline and plot. Glee (TV Series), Wicked (Broadway Musical), Wizard of Oz (Movie), DeviantArt of Glee Characters as Oz Characters, Glee Fan Trailers on Youtube, All Music mentioned all belong to their respective labels and what not. **

**Rating: PGR  
**

**Warning:** Use of very, very mild profanity, a bit of violence and bullying.** Do Not Read if you're easily offended.**

**Genre:** Drama, Fantasy**  
**

**Crossover with: **Wicked

**Era: **Alternate Universe - Season 2

**Notes: **For a while now I've been wanting to post this story, but felt i should finish some of my other work.  
This story was **inspired by a drawing I saw on DeviantArt**, it was so adorable. It basically featured The Unholy Trinity and Rachel as Characters from OZ, ever since then I've had this little story sitting on the side lines.

Just a heads up **there will be discrepancies** with this Wicked/Oz storyline, it is an AU you know, and hey, it's a story. Lol. (And there are some things that just wouldn't work otherwise).**  
**

**I will only put the disclaimer up once because it gets annoying having to put it in every chapter.  
**

**Ships: **Quinn/Rachel, Santana/Brittany, Elphaba/Glinda

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

_'Born free, as free as the wind blows, as free as the grass grows, I'm so damn bored,' _Rachel sang to herself in her head_, '__Are those even the lyrics?'_

You may ask why Rachel was singing that in her head right now. There were two reasons for this;

Reason number one: Mr Schuester had them all doing Booty Camp, and when she says all, she means ALL; even those of them who had years upon years of dancing lessons  
and the WHY was he having them do this?  
Because of reason number two: A 191cm tall (6ft and 3 inches) leading man who still couldn't seem to get his rights and his lefts in proper coordination no matter how much Mr Schuester, Mike or Brittany tried to help him.

Everyone was getting annoyed and/or bored, apart from Brittany who always seemed to have fun no matter what she was doing, Santana was filing her nails, Quinn was reading a book, again, most other people were trying to follow Mr Schuester's lead and Rachel, well, she started singing made up lyrics to Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik - The Allegro in her head to cope with the boredom of going over steps she knew how to do since she was about two years old, no exaggeration. Honest.

_'Bored, bored bored, I am really bored, bored, bored bored, I am really bored, bored bored, bored bored bored bored bored bored, ba-da da da, okay I have to stop that now,'_ she said to herself but the tune kept going anyway.

Deciding that she was going to start paying attention again, because she found that when she stopped paying attention, she was usually caught out and made to look like a fool; she started lazily moving around after Mr Schuester's instructions to everyone.

"Santana and Quinn, can you two please join us?" Mr Schuester started in a incredibly annoyed tone.

"No offense Schue, but this is booty camp for those who can't move their booty, so I'm good," Santana said as she went back to filing her nails.

"I think I'm okay," Quinn added as she looked up from her book for a moment.

"Please you two, this is for the team together to do, look even Rachel is doing it," Mr Schuester said as Santana was found glaring at him and Quinn just put her book down in annoyance but got up anyway and took position not too far from Rachel.

Hearing her name mentioned made Rachel prick her head up to see what was going on, she had no idea what he was talking about but figured she better not say anything in case she turned out to be a fool. So she waited for a clue on what to say and do.

"Oh please, the Hobbit was probably so bored she started making up fake lyrics to music in her head," Santana jabbed as Rachel looked stunned at that, not that she'd admit it.

"Regardless, come on everyone, let's start from the top, Rachel, you and Finn together please," Mr Schuester said as Rachel groaned.

"But Mr Schue, I can't dance with him," she started.

"You're dancing with him, no exceptions,"

Rachel trudged over to Finn who looked at her in a very apologetic nature.

See the two had been together, but Finn had told Rachel he wanted to find his inner rock star so he dumped her; she had sought comfort with Jesse St. James, but that turned out to be a complete bust when the donkey's behind threw eggs at her with his peers.

Rachel sighed as Finn patted her shoulder again.

The dance routine was quite simple actually, it was going to be a couple of steps separate from each other before Finn was supposed to take her in his arms and twirl her before letting her go so she could continue her steps. But this was Finn who just couldn't dance, not for the lack of trying though.

"Okay, again, five six seven eight and step," Mr Schuester said as he clapped his hands together.

"Mr Schue, you're going off count again," Brittany piped in as Santana burst out laughing along with Rachel who snickered at the comment.

For his part, Mr Schuester looked slightly put off but shook his head as he kept counting.

"Mr Schuester, you're still counting wrong," Brittany said again.

"Brittany can you please not interrupt me," Mr Schuester started.

"Oh no you don't," Santana said, "You best take advice from Britts, you wanna know why the Cheerios are doing so well? Apart from the fact that Sue yells at us until tomorrow, it's also because of Brittany, so I'd say you bests listens to her, capiche?!"

Everyone turned to look from Santana to Mr Schuester who just gapped and reminded Rachel of a goldfish.

"It's easy," Brittany said as she jumped off the stage with ease, "Okay Finn and Rachel, step together, one two three, one two three, one, two, easy,"

_'Indeed, easy,'_ Rachel thought to herself as Finn looked confused, well, at least he's trying.

To be honest, after the first booty camp Finn had broken her nose, she really wanted to be as far from his limbs as humanly possible at this point, but there was no escaping it. Nationals in New York wasn't too far away, so they'd just have to work harder than normal to get the moves down.

Mr Schuester had given her the duet with Finn, so Rachel guess she'd have to ride this out, after all, she probably was going to face this kind of challenge when she got onto Broadway anyway, the working with people who annoy you part, not the people with no co-ordination part.

After about fifteen minutes Finn had a grin plastered across his face as he was finally getting the steps, but like last time he started to get over enthusiastic as he started to do the dance with Rachel and miscalculated the distance to twirl her and Rachel was sent tumbling and screaming off the stage.

On the way down she hit her head, hard, but she couldn't tell when she hit the bottom as she blacked out to people screaming.

* * *

Pain, oh good lords it was the pain that thundered through her head at this current moment.

She was lying face down on what she thought was the sick bay bed, but then realised she was lying on grass as she opened her eyes for a moment...why the heck was she on grass?

Did the New Directions think it'd be a funny joke to put her there?

Muttering could be heard all around her as Rachel tried to get up but couldn't as her head was still pounding like crazy.

"Hello," a perky voice said to her as Rachel tried to focus her eyes back again.

"What? Oh my head hurts," she grumbled.

"Well, just be careful now, you did have quite a fall,"

"I fell? Figures, stupid Finn and his left feet,"

"Finn has left feet?"

"He can't dance, ow," Rachel got up from the ground then realised she wasn't at McKinley anymore, "What the? Where, where the heck am I?"

"Oh, great, you can see again, welcome young one to the merry old land of Oz," the voice said.

Rachel turned her head to look at who was talking, "Miss Rhodes?"

"Rhodes? No you are mistaken, I'm Glinda the Good and you Miss I don't know your name, are in the Land of Oz,"

"I'm, I'm, what?"

"You're in Oz, Welcome to the Land of Oz," Glinda repeated to her.

"Oz?" Rachel squeaked.

"Oh, and be careful, you fell on top of the Nessa...I mean, the Wicked Witch of the East and kinda, well, offed her,"

"I what?" Rachel said as her face drained of blood as she looked down at the poor woman she had crushed from her fall.

"I, I," Rachel stuttered as she gave an almost stressed and amused smile but didn't say anything as she found herself fainting back onto the ground...going in the opposite direction this time.

* * *

**AN 2: **So, that's a quick short introduction to this story, I'm not sure how often I can do updates, but we'll see how it goes. Hope you enjoyed this intro.

**AN 3:** This note is for those who are reading this story from the 24/04/2014 onwards - some of you may wonder why this is not in the crossover section - it used to be - but I found that it didn't get as many hits and I decided to see what would happen if I switched it for a while; and realised that when left in the regular section of this site, more people were bound to actually see the work (as the numbers seemingly increased in the space of an hour and a bit).  
So I have decided to leave it in the 'regular' section; but will state that this is a **crossover**.  
Figured I'd be honest about it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

"Hello? Hello? Are you waking up now? Or alive?" a voice asked her as Rachel felt someone tapping her face softly.

"Oh god, my head," Rachel groaned as she looked up and saw the woman in pink looking at her again, "Please tell me that you're Miss Rhodes?"

"Rhodes? No, I'm Glinda the Good," the woman said to her.

"What?" Rachel said as she stood up rapidly and then nearly fell over again.

"Careful, we just wanted to say thank you for killing the Witch of the East," Glinda said to her.

"I, I, I can't kill someone, I don't believe in killing people, or animals for that matter," Rachel stammered.

"Well you got rid of her then,"

"I'm dreaming,"

But before anything else could be said, there was a puff of smoke and a green woman stood in front of almost everyone.

"MOM?" Rachel said in surprise as people began talking and muttering.

"Mom? I am not your Mom," the green woman said.

"This is Elphie, I mean, the Wicked Witch of the West," Glinda said to Rachel.

"Okay, is this some elaborate joke or something? Is this a set? What the hell is going on?" Rachel stammered as she looked around at everyone, "Firstly, you are April Rhodes, you know, ex-drunkard, getting her life back together, and that woman, no matter green or not, that's Shelby Corcoran, my Mom,"

"Dear, dear, dear, you must have hurt your head hard, you're in Oz,"

"Oz is a fictional place, it's not real,"

"Then you must also not be real,"

"I am real,"

"Then we are therefore real,"

"Oh god, I must be hallucinating, maybe the slushy facials caught up with me,"

"Slushy Facials? Is it theraputious?"

"What? I, I'm dreaming, dreaming, dreaming, wake up Rachel, waking up now,"

"You're not dreaming, see?" Glinda said as she pinched Rachel's arm.

"OW, jeez, what was that for?" Rachel said irritated as she rubbed her sore arm.

"See, you're not dreaming,"

"I have to be, dreaming, drea…"

"My my, the denial is strong in this one,"

"Will you two stop it," Elphaba screeched, "Who of you killed my sister?"

Rachel paled at that.

"You!" Elphaba said angrily as she glared at Rachel.

"I, I swear, I didn't mean to, I just, I was dancing somewhere and I fell and I don't know how, I swear I didn't mean to kill her," Rachel stammered as Elphaba kept glaring at her, "It was an accident,"

"Well I can cause accidents too,"

"Please don't,"

"Aren't you forgetting about the Ruby Slippers?" Glinda said all of a sudden.

"The slippers?" Elphaba started in confusion but then figured she probably should take them as a memento of her sister, "Right,"

As the green woman walked over to where Nessarose lay, now known as the Wicked Witch of the East, Governor of Munchkin Land, the shoes disappeared and as the shoes disappeared, so did her body.

"What? No!" Elphaba cried, "The shoes, her body, they're gone, Glinda, what have you done?"

"Uh, well," Glinda started.

"Give me those shoes,"

"No Elphie, I mean Witch, you can't have those shoes,"

Elphaba looked around and saw the shoes on Rachel's feet, not that the brunette noticed, she was surprisingly unaware of the situation for someone who was supposed to know what the storyline of Oz was about.

"Girl, give me those shoes," Elphaba started.

"Huh? What shoes?" Rachel asked as she tried to snap out of her daze.

"You are so dim witted, the shoes on your feet,"

"Uh, no, I bought those,"

"No you didn't,"

"Yeah, I did,"

"Ruby Slippers?"

"What the?"

"I transformed the shoes to your feet," Glinda said.

"Don't you mean transported? And ew, I'm wearing someone else's shoes, get them off," Rachel said as she gasped and looked down before jumping up and down and trying to get the shoes off her feet with no success.

"Can't, spell is casted, it can't be undone,"

"This just plain SUCKS,"

"Just give me the slippers, they aren't of any use to you, you don't know how to use them," Elphaba started.

Finally remembering her favourite movie Rachel finally said, "Um, I could just, you know, click my heels three times and say there's no place like home and then I'd be gone and you can have your shoes back,"

Now if that were the case this time, and it wasn't, this story would be over, fortunately for the audience and not so much for Rachel, Glinda shook her head and said, "I'm afraid it's not so easy, you have to stay here and help out the citizens of Oz, plus you need to go see the Wizard before anything can happen,"

"But he's a fake," Rachel said as everyone gasped and booed and hissed at her; but having Glinda and Elphaba stare at her with shock on their faces, "But he is, it's all smoke and glass, that's it,"

"Stop it girl, you've never met the Wizard,"

"I've heard tales,"

"Now, now, go on this journey, keep the slippers, they're sure to help you otherwise Elphaba wouldn't want them,"

"Obviously she wants them not for their magic but because they're her sister's and she wants something to remember her by," Rachel said through tight lips so only Glinda and Elphaba could hear her.

"Nonsense,"

"Just give me the slippers," Elphaba said, getting tired of this conversation as she tried to touch the slippers only to have a force push her away, "I'll get you, even if I can't get you here, I will get you,"

And with that, Elphaba disappeared to the screams and cries of the townspeople.

"It's okay, she's gone now," Glinda said as everyone peeked out.

"Please tell me you're going to stop her," one munchkin said, "Or at least go see the Wizard,"

"Yes, best to begin your journey now, go to the Emerald City,"

"Follow the yellow brick road, right?" Rachel muttered.

"Why yes, just follow that one road the whole time," Glinda said as she disappeared into a bubble but not before Rachel actually heard her mutter, "I hope she doesn't get lost, I'm so bad at giving directions,"

"Good grief," Rachel said as she waved goodbye to the munchkins and left as soon as she could since they were actually looking at her with suspicion because of what she said about the Wizard.

She started humming the tune to "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" as she went on her way.

After what seemed like forever, Rachel began to wonder how in all creation Nessarose could stand those shoes, they hurt like crazy to be in. She was sure that her feet would blister after all of this.

There was no doubt in her mind that this world, while mainly that from The Wizard of Oz, was more likely the tale of Wicked, main reason being, because Elphaba looked like her Mom, Glinda looked like Ms. Rhodes and the two were startling carbon copies of Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth who were the ones who more or less were the reason behind some of the Broadway memes of the wonderful pairing of Gelphie.

Plus Glinda kept fluffing up, not that anyone else seemed to care about how she addressed Elphaba; and in the movie Wizard of Oz, that Glinda had only ever called Elphaba, The Witch or Wicked Witch of the West.

Rachel shook her head as she came to a crossroads.

She sighed in annoyance, "Left or right? Or straight?" she grumbled.

"Oh, you could left," a voice said.

"What?' Rachel said as she looked around and saw a scarecrow, "Oh my god, Scarecrow?"

"Yes, or you can go that way," she said pointing the other way.

"And here I thought scarecrow was a guy,"

"I'm very female thank you,"

"Noticed, can you show me where the Emerald City is? I'm looking for the Wizard,"

"Sure, just get me off this thing," The Scarecrow said.

"Oh, my, Brittany?" Rachel gasped as she finally got a closer look at who it was.

"How'd you know my name?"

"I, uh, lucky guess,"

"Good guess, I think, wait, can I even think?"

"Of course you can,"

"It's just, people keep telling me I can't because I haven't got a brain,"

"Oh Brittany, they just don't understand you,"

"Maybe, I just wish I had a brain, then I'd be smart and people would listen to what I say, because you know, a lot of the time there are people who don't have brains and they talk way too much, I don't want to be one of them,"

"I don't think you are, anyway, c'mon, let me help you down,"

Rachel went behind Scarecrow Brittany and looked for the rope, 'Figures I'd have to pull the nail out,' she thought to herself, "Okay Brittany, ready?"

"I think so? Can I think? WHOA!" Scarecrow Brittany yelped as Rachel pulled at the nail wedge that had held Scarecrow Brittany in place before and sent her flailing to the ground, "Oh my, it's so good to be free,"

Rachel giggled as she watched Scarecrow Brittany dance around clumsily for a bit before getting used to just dancing around.

"I'm so happy, it was so boring up there," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"I bet, so, can you take me to the Emerald City?" Rachel asked the Scarecrow.

"So, why do you want to go there?"

"I have to see the Wizard, though I don't really want to, apparently he's going to help me get home,"

"Oh, do you think he could give me a brain?"

"I don't know, I don't think he's so great,"

"Oh,"

"But maybe, you'll never know,"

"Okay, let's go, can we sing and dance there?"

Rachel laughed as she said, "Sure Brittany,"

The two started in the direction of the Emerald City as they started singing together and dancing, Brittany tumbling every now and then but always maintained her steps as she danced.

The music that started out of thin air was what had shocked Rachel at first, why? Because for some reason as Brittany started singing, the music just magically appeared to accompany her as she and Rachel began to sing together.

'This is awfully convenient,' Rachel thought to herself in amusement as she sang with Brittany.

_We're off to see the wizard, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz  
We hear he is a whiz of a wiz, if ever a wiz there was  
If ever, oh ever a wiz there was, The Wizard of Oz is one because  
Because, because, because, because, because  
Because of the wonderful things he does  
We're off to see the wizard, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz_

It was at least an hour later as the two journeyed down the Yellow Brick Road and Rachel was starting to feel hungry as she looked around at the trees and noticed some with apples on them.

Forgetting that she probably shouldn't' try and take any apples she walked up to one tree and plucked an apple.

The tree moved its limbs and whacked her hand hard to take the apple back.

"What do you think you're doing?" she growled at her.

"Oh my god, Mercedes?" Rachel started.

"Get your damn hands off my apples,"

"I'm sorry, I just, I, I was hungry,"

"How would you like it if I just plucked stuff off of you?"

"You tell her Cedes," another tree said behind Rachel.

Rachel turned and gapped, "Kurt?"

"You shouldn't take things that aren't yours," Tree Kurt growled at her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to,"

"Oh don't mind them, you don't want their apples anyway," Scarecrow Brittany interjected.

"You saying I'm not good enough?" Tree Mercedes demanded as she threw an apple at Scarecrow Brittany.

Scarecrow Brittany started laughing and teasing the two trees who threw apples at her and Rachel.

"Brittany, stop it," Rachel whined as she ducked and weaved to avoid being hit.

"Hey, you're hungry, this way they're actually giving us the apples," Scarecrow Brittany laughed.

"True," Rachel said as she caught a few apples and then went to find the scattered ones that had fallen on the other side of the road.

As she looked for them on the ground, she noticed that the apple had fallen next to what looked like a tin foot.

Rachel frowned in confusion and wonderment as she knocked on the tin foot before she heard someone growl at her, "Who the heck do you think you are?"

Rachel screamed as she jolted backwards.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

Scarecrow Brittany raced over as quickly as her straw legs would let her as she grabbed a hold of Rachel and held her close; as the brunette forgot she was made out of straw and ran and hid behind her, almost as if she was wanting the woman made of straw to protect her.

"What's wrong? What happened?" The Scarecrow asked her.

"Pfah Fin Ma gwold a muh anf hed scawee," Rachel muffled into Scarecrow Brittany's back.

"Huh?"

"Scary,"

"Who?"

"The Tin Man, I think that's a Tin Man,"

"Hey now, that was mean you mean thing, you shouldn't scare people," Scarecrow Brittany chastised the rusted Tin Man.

"She was anno….." the Tin Man started but then couldn't as her lips finally rusted over again.

Rachel looked out from behind of Scarecrow Brittany and her jaw dropped at who was standing in front of her.

"Santana? You're the Tin Man?" Rachel exclaimed as she walked up to the Tin Woman. Though really, she wasn't THAT surprised.

Tin Man Santana just groaned and growled.

"I think she completely rusted over," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"Yeah, I've always wondered how a Tin Man works though, I mean, they're all hollow," Rachel said as Tin Man Santana growled at that.

"There are a lot of people in this world who get through life completely hollow because they know of no other way to be," Scarecrow Brittany said to her.

Rachel just looked at her then back at Tin Man Santana who kept muttering about a can of something.

"I think she said something about oil," Rachel said as she and Brittany started looking for an oil can.

Soon they found it and Brittany decided to dance and stumble over to it and pick it up.

"We need to oil her, I'll do it," Scarecrow Brittany said as she started oiling all of the Tin Man's limbs before oiling her face.

"Oh thank god, I thought I was going to be stuck like this for days, it was raining yesterday and I started to rust before I could get to the oil can, thanks straw," Tin Man Santana said looking at Scarecrow Brittany.

Rachel didn't say anything as she waited for the two to stop looking at each other.

A thought did occur to her, now that she'd met the Scarecrow and the Tin Man, the only person who was left was the Cowardly Lion.

She wondered who from New Directions it'd be, most likely Quinn, since she was the last of the Unholy Trinity to make an appearance.

Guess she'd have to wait and see as she sighed and looked again at the two talking a bit in front of her.

"What you looking at Dwarf?" Tin Man Santana said harshly.

"Hey, don't do that, Rachel's really nice, she's taking me to see the Wizard so he can give me a brain," Scarecrow Brittany said happily.

"Why do you need a brain?"

"Because I want to be smart like everyone else,"

"But you're already smart, people just don't know it,"

"You think?"

"Yeah, I mean, I may not have a heart, doesn't mean I'm heartless all the time,"

"Oh, maybe the Wizard can give you a heart,"

"I doubt it," Rachel muttered.

"What's that?" Tin Man Santana asked.

"I, I said I doubt it, I don't like what I've heard about him, okay, but I have to go see him because I want to go home,"

"And where's home? Munchkin Land? If that's the place, then it's back that way,"

"No, Ohio,"

"Who's O?" Scarecrow Brittany asked.

"Huh?" Rachel wondered.

"You said oh, hi, o, I was wondering who O was,"

"Oh, no, that's the name of the state I'm from,"

"Oh I see,"

Rachel smiled, "Santana you're more than welcome to join us, I mean, I'm sure Brittany would love it if you came along,"

Tin Man Santana paused for a moment, she wasn't sure about the human, but she quite liked the Scarecrow, "Why not? Ain't like I got anything else to do,"

"So, how come you're a Tin Man?" Brittany asked.

Tin Man Santana froze at that.

"Oh no, Rachel, grab the oil," Brittany said.

"No, I don't need it, but I'll go get a bag or something, we need to bring it along," Tin Man Santana said.

"If I promise to carry it, may I put some apples in there too?" Rachel asked.

"Sure, whatever," Tin Man Santana said as she disappeared into her house.

"Why do you think she froze like that?" Rachel asked Brittany.

"Well, in this world here, there are three types of Tin Men, some that are made, and some that are cursed, and some that are punished,"

"Are you able to explain before she gets back?"

"Well, the Tin Men who are made are just hollow men made of Tin, they have some magic in them and I'm not quite sure how they work, but they just exist, they're just hollow, the ones who are cursed are the ones who used to be human, like I used to be human,"

"You were human once?"

"Yeah, but that's a different story, anyway, the human ones are the ones who have done something so bad that they act as if they have no heart, no emotion, nothing, so a curse is placed on them that they will forever be made of tin, never again to be human until they learn what it is to love and have compassion, most cursed tin men were part of the law enforcement here in Oz, called that because their badges were made of tin, but other times because they usually had no emotions, they were forced to go through training that will make them show no fear, no pain, nothing, most cursed Tin Men were once human Tin Men, the last are the punished, but you'll never see them, they're locked away in an iron suit of their namesake, frozen for eternity as punishment for opposing or doing something against people in general or against a beloved leader,"

"So, how come some are cursed and some a punished?"

"I don't know,"

But before Rachel could ask anything else, Tin Man Santana came back and gave Rachel the bag, "Here you go Munchkin, you can carry that,"

"Thanks, I think," Rachel said.

"Look, I don't quite like you much, so zip it, I like her so I'm willing to put up with you for her sake, otherwise, zip it, it's gonna be a long journey,"

Cackling could be heard on top of the roof of Santana's hut.

The three looked up and saw Elphaba standing there, "You think that the trip will be long, ha, well, let me tell you it's gonna take a long time before you get to the wizard, you're only just getting started, I can't believe you got a scarecrow and a tin man to help you,"

Rachel just looked at Elphaba, something was off about the way she said it, it just didn't quite match.

"Why are you tracking me?" Rachel asked.

"Because you're off to see the Wizard," Elphaba answered.

"Not because I want to,"

"Then why go?"

"Because he's apparently my ticket home,"

"And do you so willingly just cling onto someone of popularity just because they promise you a ticket to something that you think is good?"

"I,"

"Ha, that wizard is nothing compared to me, you'll see, and you, Tin Man, I could turn you into a beehive or send rain on you for trying to help the girl, as for you Scarecrow, perhaps a mattress and pillow, oh, I could do this for now though, say hi to my fireball," Elphaba cackled as she threw a fireball at Scarecrow Brittany who screamed and jumped back.

Elphaba disappeared as Tin Man Santana did her best to extinguish the flames.

"Maybe you two shouldn't come along," Rachel said, "I don't want her to rust you Santana or turn you into a beehive, or turn you into a mattress Brittany,"

"Nah, I'm not scared of her," Scarecrow Brittany said as Tin Man Santana just did a short shrug as she picked up her axe to bring along.

"I don't care, I just want to be with Britts," she said to the two of them.

"Great, so, let's go," Rachel said with a small happy smile.

"Can we sing and dance again?" Scarecrow Brittany asked, "That was fun to do,"

"Oh god," Tin Man Santana started.

"It'll be fun Sanny, just join in,"

As the two started to sing 'We're off to see the Wizard,' Santana stopped them.

"I prefer a bit more, I don't know, contemporary," Tin Man Santana grumbled as she started singing and dancing with Scarecrow Brittany down the yellow brick road before pausing and waving at Rachel to hurry up and join them. Rachel was left smiling at them as she shook her head with a grin.

One thing she loved about Oz, when you wanted to sing, music just magically appeared for you.

The version that Tin Man Santana was singing was one she knew well, and she did enjoy it, it was from the movie called 'The Wiz' that starred Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.

She walked towards the two as they started dancing all together down the road and singing;

_Come on and ease on down, ease on down the road  
Come on and ease on down, ease on down the road  
Don't you carry nothing that might be a load  
Come on, ease on down, ease on down the road_

_Come on, ease on down, ease on down the road_  
_Come on, ease on down, ease on down the road_  
_Don't you carry nothing that might be a load_  
_Come on, ease on down, ease on down, down the road_

_Pick your left foot up_  
_When your right foot's down_  
_Come on legs keep movin'_  
_Don't you lose no ground_  
_You just keep on keepin'_  
_On the road that you choose_  
_Don't you give up walkin'_  
_'cause you gave up shoes, no_

_Ease on down, ease on down the road_  
_Come on, ease on down, ease on down the road_  
_Don't you carry nothing that might be a load_  
_Come on, ease on down, ease on down the road_

_'cause there may be times_  
_When you think you lost your mind_  
_And the steps you're takin'_  
_Leave you three, four steps behind_  
_But the road you're walking_  
_Might be long sometimes_  
_You just keep on steppin'_  
_And you'll be just fine, yeah_

_Ease on down, ease on down the road_  
_Come on, ease on down, ease on down the road_  
_Don't you carry nothing that might be a load_  
_Come on, ease on down, ease on down the road_

The three kept dancing and singing that version of the song until they came upon the deeper woods.

Tin Man Santana stopped, "You two sure you wanna go through there?" she asked.

"Yeah, I mean, it's the shortest way right?" Scarecrow Brittany answered.

"Yeah, but it can be dangerous?"

"Oh please don't say that there are Lions and Tigers and Bears," Rachel started as Scarecrow Brittany added the words, 'Oh My' to the end.

"Maybe we should go another way," Tin Man Santana suggested.

"No, we have to go through here, I feel it," Rachel said as she started to walk.

The Tin Man groaned at that as The Scarecrow took her pinky in her straw glove and started walking leaving the Tin Man smiling in a small daze at the sweet gesture by the straw woman.

After another hour, they started hearing more chatter of animals close to them before the noise suddenly halted.

Rachel paused, something was watching them. She knew it.

She turned and saw reflective golden eyes shimmer and glare at her before disappearing. A low rumbled was emitted before it became silent again. Feeling slightly scared she began to tremble. Tin Man Santana noticed it and realised that Rachel was scared of something. She kept her axe handy just in case as Scarecrow Brittany went closer to Rachel.

"There's something watching us," Rachel whispered to the two.

"What is…?" Scarecrow Brittany started but couldn't finish as a loud roar was heard, sending Rachel to the other side of the path away from the Animal screaming, Scarecrow Brittany fell to the ground and curled up into a protective ball and Tin Man Santana fell in fear but tried to protect Scarecrow Brittany anyway.

"It's a Lion," Scarecrow Brittany said in fear as the Lion turned to look at her and let out an angry and terrifying roar.

* * *

**AN:** The song mentioned earlier is from The Wiz called 'Ease on down the Road'.

And yes, for those who know, I did a small mention of the Tin Man TV Series.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter...hopefully it won't be long before the next one is up.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

As the Lion roared at the two on the ground, scaring them. Rachel peeked out from behind the true.

"I'm gonna show you not to walk on my turf," the Lion said to them, "I'll fight you with my eyes closed, I'll roar you to oblivion, you Tin Man, I'll use you as a scratch post and you Scarecrow, I'll fluff you up like a pillow,"

"Hells no you're not," Tin Man Santana started only to pause as the angry Lion roared at her.

"Or I could fight you and I'll win, even if I have to tie a paw behind my back and stand on one foot, because I'm tough and ferocious and I can see that you're scared of me, as you should be,"

Rachel realised who the Lion was now, it was Quinn.

"Please, we're just passing through, leave us alone," Scarecrow Brittany started.

"You're on my turf, I'm not leaving you alone until I either turn you into my mattress and her into a scratching post," Lion Quinn growled.

"You shall do no such thing to those two," Rachel said as she stepped out from behind the tree.

"Who dares question me?" Lion Quinn growled as she glared at Rachel.

"Me, I just, you shouldn't be so mean,"

Lion Quinn roared again at her, Rachel flinched but didn't move as the Lion roared at her again and again, trying to make her jump or run, but the brunette did neither.

"Quinn, please stop it," Rachel said as the Lion tried to roar at her, only to squeak in surprise when Rachel just looked at her with crossed arms.

"I, ROOOAAARR," Lion Quinn said as Rachel just raised an eyebrow at her, while Scarecrow Brittany finally managed to stand up hid behind a somewhat scared, yet now standing strong Tin Man Santana.

"Quinn, really? I've had you roar at me so many times, it's kinda not, really, scary anymore," Rachel said finally as she got used to the Lion's roar.

The Lion just looked at her.

"C'mon guys, let's just go, her bark, or roar, is worse than her actual bite," Rachel said as she and Tin Man Santana started walking away, Scarecrow Brittany on the other hand wasn't sure if they should.

"I, no, I, I'm a failure," Lion Quinn cried as she fell against the rock and sobbed making Rachel stop and Tin Man Santana huff in annoyance at having to stop.

"No, Quinn, don't cry," Rachel said softly.

"What the hell kind of Lion cries like a Baby?" Tin Man Santana asked.

"Quinn, I'm sorry, please don't cry," Rachel said as she softly touched the sobbing Lion's head.

"I can't even roar like a perfect lion can, it's no wonder my family abandoned me," Lion Quinn cried.

"No Quinn, I'm sorry, please don't cry,"

But the poor Lion didn't stop crying as she sobbed into her paws.

"I'm so tired of being alone, and I'm so tired of trying to be this magnificent being that everyone wants me to be when all I want is someone to love me for me, that's all I want," Lion Quinn kept crying into her paws.

Rachel cautiously put her hand softly on her mane and began to caress it, trying to calm the Lion down.

"It'll be okay Quinn, you're better than you think," she said as the Lion looked up at her.

"You really think so?" Lion Quinn asked.

"Yes, because you can be so much more than people expect you to be, you just have to figure out who you want to be, that's all,"

"Thank you,"

"I mean it Quinn,"

"How do you know my name?" she asked.

"Yeah, how'd you know our names?" Tin Man Santana asked, "I mean, it's kinda weird, we only just met you,"

"I, where I'm from, there are these girls, and they look and sound a lot like you, and I mean, I guess, the names just came out, I didn't know that they were actually your names," Rachel answered.

"Oh, are they friends with you too?" Scarecrow Brittany asked.

Rachel paused before saying, "No, not really,"

"But why?"

"I'm a loser, no one wants to be around a loser, and the only reason they have to be is because of Glee Club,"

"Well that sucks,"

"It does, but there's nothing I can do about it,"

"Don't they ever defend you or anything?"

"Only if it benefits them I guess,"

"That doesn't sound like they're good friends,"

"I don't really have any friends where I'm from Brittany, although, I suppose, some of the Glee Members are slowly getting there, but sometimes, I don't know, it's hard to tell sometimes,"

"Hey, if you stay here, we can be friends forever,"

"Maybe," Rachel said as she kept stroking Lion Quinn's mane before saying to the Lion, "We should get going to the Emerald City, you should come with us Quinn,"

"You wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen with a cowardly lion?" Lion Quinn asked.

"You're not cowardly, just a bit lost sometimes, that's different,"

"But I am cowardly, I've been for so long because I don't know of any other way, it's just, I have to roar so people will think I'm fierce, I don't know any other way than putting on a mask and pretending to be someone I'm not,"

"Maybe the wizard can give you some courage," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"You think?"

"She doesn't think so," Tin Man Santana said as she pointed at Rachel.

"I just have my doubts, but let's go shall we?" Rachel said.

"We should sing, I love singing, and dancing, I feel so free," Scarecrow Brittany said as Tin Man Santana groaned and Lion Quinn just looked amused.

Tin Man Santana stared after the Scarecrow and the girl as Lion Quinn just watched them sing 'We're off to see the wizard' and dance together.

"C'mon furball, let's go," Tin Man Santana said.

Lion Quinn just growled at her as she padded along on all fours.

"Why don't you just walk on your hind legs?" Tin Man Santana asked.

"I'm a Lion, I like walking around on all fours, it's what I'm designed to do," was all Lion Quinn said as she bounded up to Rachel and started singing and dancing with her too.

Tin Man Santana just gave a small smile that she knew no one could see as she shook her head and caught up with the other three in front of her.

* * *

As the four continued their walk down the yellow brick road, they talked, laughed and sang. Occasionally stopping for a small breaks because Rachel would get tired.

Lion Quinn was slowly warming up to the girl, not that it took too much convincing. Rachel would always know what to say and where to stroke the Lion's mane to make her feel at peace.

At times during their travels, Lion Quinn was even comfortable with giving Rachel a lift on her back, allowing the small brunette to just sit there as the tall and large Lion would carry her happily on her back as Rachel clutched onto her mane to be safe.

Currently the four were sitting in a small meadow, Rachel eating an apple that she decided to share with Lion Quinn as the four had a good conversation about life in general.

Eventually, Rachel began to feel tired as she lay down to rest. Lion Quinn was soon heard purring as Rachel was still running her fingers through her mane as the two doze off for a while, leaving the Tin Man and the Scarecrow to talk for a bit.

"She's such a softie," Tin Man Santana muttered about the now sleeping Lion.

"No, only with Rachel," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"What do you mean? She was scared of us,"

"No, she was scared at the fact that there was someone who didn't actually fear her, I mean, we were scared, Rachel wasn't, eventually,"

"I suppose, wait, I wasn't scared of her,"

"Sure you weren't Sanny,"

"I wasn't,"

"Aha,"

"Anyway, how'd you get stuck on that pole?"

"Witch's Curse, not the Green One, the Pink One,"

"Glinda the Good? Why would she curse you?"

"It was actually an accident, she was supposed to make sure I could, you know, be smart, but not let people hurt me or break me, I guess, the wording got a little muddled and now I'm a Scarecrow, you?"

"I was human once, I was part of the Law Enforcement team known as the Tin Men, the more I worked with the group, the more I became like the Tin Man they talk about, I had no heart and no mercy, one day, I ignored a plea of mercy and killed someone I didn't mean to, and now, I'm cursed as a Tin Man,"

"I'm sorry,"

"Not your fault,"

"What about Quinn? Cursed or not?"

"I think she's an Animal,"

"An animal?"

"Well, with a big A, because she can talk and all that,"

"Ah, Sanny, do you think we'd ever become human again?"

"I don't know, does it matter?"

"No,"

Santana just smiled as she leaned her head against Brittany's and rested it on the Scarecrow's shoulders.

As she looked over to the other two again, she saw that Lion Quinn was getting up again and began to paw at Rachel's body as the brunette was resting on the grass, looking like she missed the feel of the Lion close to her. The Lion eventually decided to stretch out before curling next to the sleeping brunette properly and snuggled against her. One large paw draped across her body.

"Guess she needed to stretch," Tin Man Santana said.

"So, I guess you and I have Watchmen duty," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"Yep, because we're fabulous and don't need sleep,"

"We are awesome people,"

Tin Man Santana smiled like she hadn't in a long time. She knew it. It was a real smile. This Scarecrow was awakening a feeling in her that she hadn't felt in a long time, and she at that moment couldn't quite place what it was.

Soon Rachel and Lion Quinn woke up and the four began to journey again before they eventually started nearing the Emerald City, Rachel could see it there, shining in the distance.

It was actually quite a magnificent looking place.

She looked across the field of poppies that was between them and the Emerald City, she was so ecstatic at being so close to the place that she started running through the fields completely forgetting that Elphaba had actually poisoned the field with poppies that made beings that require air to fall asleep.

"We're almost there," Scarecrow Brittany yelled happily as she and Rachel ran through the fields laughing.

But Rachel suddenly paused, "I'm really tired Brittany, I think I'll rest for a wee bit,"

"What? But we're so close," Tin Man Santana said.

"You know, come to think of it, I'm kinda tired too," Lion Quinn said as she cuddled up to Rachel and the two began to sleep.

"Aw, they're so cute," Scarecrow Brittany started as Tin Man Santana looked around and then her eyes widened in horror as she knew what the flowers actually were.

"Oh no, this, this isn't right," Tin Man Santana said.

"What do you mean? They're just napping, they've done it before," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"B, I've seen these flowers before, these are Death Poppies, so named because they cause people to literally sleep to death, they shouldn't even be here in this area, someone must have put them here,"

Scarecrow Brittany looked worried, "Sanny, how are we going to save them? We have to save them,"

"I don't know B, I don't know what to do,"

"Help, help us, somebody Help!" Scarecrow Brittany was left screaming as the cackling of Elphaba could be heard not too far away.

"No one will be able to help you," Elphaba cackled as she disappeared.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

Scarecrow Brittany and Tin Man Santana were running around in circles; they knew it achieved nothing, but it helped them in their panic…, well, it helped it get worse.

"What do we do? What do we do? What do we do?" Scarecrow Brittany shrieked as she repeated those lines over and over again.

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know," Tin Man Santana said back in a panicked tone.

"Help, someone HELP!"

It had been five minutes, oh yes, five minutes of them just panicking and having no idea of what to do, you'd think they'd have thought of just pulling or carrying the two sleeping beings out of the poppy fields, but nope, they didn't.

Seems logic defies people in a panic, probably why you see those Keep Calm posters everywhere, though that probably has more to do with the market as opposed to actually telling people to keep calm in a crisis like it used to in the days of old…, anyway, as the two kept panicking it started to snow all of a sudden.

"What the? Snow?" Tin Man Santana said before saying, "Oh crap,"

"Snow?" Scarecrow Brittany said as Rachel groaned and shuffled before she sat up and stretched her arms.

"How long was I asleep?" she asked.

"Few minutes, I was worried you wouldn't wake up,"

"I fell asleep in the poppy field, how could I forget?"

"It happens,"

"Where's Quinn?"

But before Scarecrow Brittany could answer, Lion Quinn playfully pounced on top of Rachel.

"Qwimph, do fur is in ma face, cant bwef or dalk" Rachel muffled as the large Lion's front was currently covering her face and making it hard to breathe or talk.

"What?" Lion Quinn smirked.

Rachel was heard huffing before her hands poked Lion Quinn's sides making the Lion yelp and jump high in the air.

"Ha," Rachel said poking out her tongue as Quinn landed back on all four paws and walked up to Rachel and sat down as Lion's do.

Rachel smiled as Lion Quinn couldn't help it but nuzzle into the brunette's neck.

"Canf do help me?" Santana grumbled as she tried to ask for help.

"Hey, we should oil everything but her mouth, that way she can leave the snark to herself," Lion Quinn said with a Lion's grin.

"Oh Quinn that would be mean, and I'm not that mean," Rachel said as she ruffled the Lion's mane, stood up and reached into her bag to oil the Tin Man.

"Thanks Tiny, and you Lion, screw you," Tin Man Santana said as Lion Quinn roared at her.

"Quinn, stop it," Rachel said in a stern tone but started laughing as the Lion bounded up to her on all fours and ran between her legs so that the brunette would eventually be sitting on her back, "Quinn, I can walk you know,"

"I don't mind carrying you," Lion Quinn said as she carried on walking.

"She just likes being between your legs," Tin Man Santana started.

"SANTANA!" Rachel squeaked loudly as Scarecrow Brittany slapped the Tin Man, not that it really hurt her.

Lion Quinn just ignored her and kept walking proudly with Rachel on her back.

"Hey Rachel," Tin Man Santana started.

"Yes?" Rachel asked.

"I gotta know, how'd you recognise Furball over there?"

"Huh?"

"You know, you said you recognise us from your world, B and me, well that I get because we look almost human, but Furball,"

"Stop calling me that," Lion Quinn growled as Rachel patted her shoulders to calm her down.

"Well, she looks exactly like any Lion I know of, like a lion, how do you know she's Quinn?" Tin Man Santana finished asking.

"I truly don't know, her voice maybe, her actions, but there's something about her eyes, they have a certain Quinness to them that I just recognise, I don't know," Rachel answered truthfully as the Lion smiled, not that anyone saw that.

"Okay, just wondering, I wanted to ask earlier but all we did was sing," Tin Man Santana said shrugging her shoulders as Scarecrow Brittany giggled.

As the four walked away from the fields and towards the Emerald City; there was a being watching them with a sigh on her face.

"You shouldn't have sent the snow," Elphaba whispered more to herself than Glinda.

"You shouldn't have put the poppies there," Glinda said making the green woman spin around.

"Glinda, what are you doing here? Wait, nevermind, I don't want to know,"

"Elphie, please, wait,"

"No, you gave away my sister's shoes, they were all I had left of her and you gave them away to some, well, I was going to say farm girl but I don't think she is one,"

"Elphie, I know that it's hard to lose your family,"

"And what would you know of it? Huh? You've never lost anything you ever truly loved,"

"I,"

"No, you don't get to say that to me, Nessarose was all I had, and even she turned around and hated me, because of you, because of the "Wizard" and his greatness, all of Oz hates me,"

"I don't hate you,"

"Well you have a funny way of showing it, leave me alone Glinda,"

"Elphie I'm sorry, but accidents do happen,"

"Oh sure, accident,"

"You know as well as I do that that girl didn't mean to fall on your sister, in fact, I don't think she meant to be here at all,"

"Who would want to be in a place like this? Where the world is lorded over by a fool and the people just can't see it, and someone like me is called a nuisance or a threat or a revolutionist but in a bad sense, what a world this is,"

"Elphie,"

"Stop Glinda, just stop, you know nothing of loss,"

"I do, I really do," Glinda said softly as she looked away.

Elphaba just snorted.

"Elphie, I have to let that girl go on her journey, there are things she can learn and do," Glinda said.

"For whose and what cause my sweet?" Elphaba started as Glinda looked at her in shock, "What?"

"I haven't heard you call me that in years,"

Elphaba just shrugged.

"I guess, I just thought, I don't know Elphie, I just felt it was right that she take the shoes and go on a journey," Glinda finished.

"But to the Wizard? Glinda, you of all people know that he cheats and lies, everything that he does is smoke and magic, he has no real power, no magic, and the only reason he does is because people let him have that power," Elphaba said.

"I know, and I don't know why, but I feel that this girl can help get rid of him,"

"How?"

"I don't know Elphie, but please, just trust me, let them go on this journey, don't try and kill her,"

"I wasn't going to leave her in the field to die you know, I was trying to stop her from seeing that Wizard, he'll only lie to her and make her do something for him than make it about himself,"

"She already doesn't trust him, didn't you see her face?"

"I suppose, but still, if she and we know, then why?"

"Please just trust me Elphie, don't interfere,"

"It's not that simple my sweet,"

"Elphie?"

"A part of me knows that I have to be there, I have to be that enemy that everyone needs to blame, the person they need to hate because they need a monster,"

"No, Elphie don't,"

"No one cares about someone like me Glinda, no one, it's something that I'm used to, they just use me and then they leave me, it's how it always is, don't waste another breath or moment trying to save me because you will only get hurt,"

"But,"

"Don't, I know you're only trying because you feel guilty for what you did at the tower before I became the Wicked Witch of the West,"

"Elphie, that's not, if you'd just listen,"

"There's nothing to listen to my sweet, by the end of that girl's journey I won't be alive anymore, I can feel it, the celebration I saw in my vision at Shiz, I know what it is now, it's my funeral, so don't mourn me when everyone else will be celebrating my departure, just don't, you don't need to care, in fact you shouldn't have to,"

And with that the green woman disappeared as Glinda just sobbed into her hands, "But I do care, I have always cared,"

Now the woman who was usually clad in pink had to really search her feelings and thoughts and think of the real reason as to why.

* * *

Further down the yellow brick road, the four companions finally made it to the gate.

Rachel hopped off of Lion Quinn's back as Tin Man Santana rang the bell.

The door hole opened to reveal a man who looked a lot like Jacob Ben Israel; Rachel resisted the urge to both laugh really hard and roll her eyes.

"Can't you read the sign?" he demanded.

"No sign on the door," Rachel stammered in laughter.

Jacob looked at the door and tsked as he went behind the door and put a sign out that said 'Bell Out of Order, Please Knock'; before he shut the small window again.

Rachel rolled her eyes and banged on the large door knocker the gate had.

"That's more like it, how can I help you?" he asked.

"We want to see the Wizard," Rachel said.

"You can't see the Wizard, no one can, no one's seen him in years,"

"Then how do you know he's there or exists?"

"Stop boring me and wasting my time,"

"Look, Glinda the Good sent me here, okay, I don't really want to stay, but I have to, she even gave me these ruby slippers,"

"Oh, huh, cool, guess you can come in,"

'That was easy,' Rachel thought to herself.

The gates opened letting the four companions in. The Ozians made a great deal over them coming in to see the Wizard and decided to clean up the four so that they'd be presentable.

The hardest was Lion Quinn, the lion just didn't want anyone to touch her. That was until Rachel told her she probably needed a bath to scrub the bit of mud and so off herself.

Lion Quinn huffed in annoyance but went to get bathed and groomed.

Eventually the four were ready to go see the Wizard.

Rachel had a bad feeling about it, she was sure he was going to say no.

And as everyone else was laughing hard, a cackling was heard as people screamed and looked to the sky, breaking Rachel out of her thoughts.

There, high above them, Elphaba was writing in the clouds, 'Surrender Rachel'.

Rachel could only guess how Elphaba knew her name, probably from looking into the crystal ball that was in her room at Kiamo Ko Castle.

She sighed.

"Who's Rachel?" one Ozian asked in fear.

"Me," Rachel said as chaos had descended and people were running and demanding that the Wizard answer them; only to have the sentinel on duty tell them they'd be fine and to go home.

Rachel, Lion Quinn, Tin Man Santana and Scarecrow Brittany walked up to the doors of the castle that the Wizard lived in.

"You can't go in there," the Sentinel said.

"But we were told to see the Wizard by Glinda the Good, or at least, Rachel did, and we're here to be with her," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"No one gets to see the Wizard, he's a busy man,"

"But,"

"I said no,"

"Hey, don't talk to her like that," Tin Man Santana scowled angrily.

"But she's Rachel, the one that the Wizard is after," Scarecrow Brittany tried, "The Wizard has to see her at least so she can get home and away from the Witch,"

"I, she? Oh, fine, I'll go announce you,"

The Sentinel disappeared for a while as the four chattered a bit, well, aside from Rachel, she knew in her gut and her memory of the movie; what was going to happen next and it broke her heart because she knew how much the other three wanted to have a brain, a heart and courage.

When the doors to the castle opened, the Sentinel said, "The Wizard said get out and don't bother him, so go away,"

And with that, he slammed the doors shut.

Rachel turned and looked sad, everyone thought it was because she now didn't know how to get home; but for her, it was more because of the sad looks that crossed her new found friends faces when they realised they were so close to a dream and just had it crushed.

"We came all this way for nothing," Scarecrow Brittany cried, tears running down her face.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN:** This note is for those who have followed and read this story before 24/04/2014 - some of you may wonder why this is no longer in the crossover section of the site.  
I have found that it didn't get as many hits or views as I thought it might, and I wanted to see what would happen and if it would make any difference if I made the story appear on the 'regular' list as opposed to the 'crossover' one.

Originally I thought that maybe it was just because people weren't interested in this story;  
(not that it would have stopped me from writing because those of you who read this tale beforehand deserve to see it completed regardless of numbers);  
and then I wondered if it was perhaps because the story was in the crossover section of as opposed to the regular section. (As I said before).

So I put it as a 'regular' story to see what would happen and noticed that when left in the regular section of this site, more people actually saw the work.  
So I have decided to leave it in the 'regular' section; but will state that this is a **crossover**.

I figured I'd be honest about it. (And I do apologise to the ones who tried to find this in the crossover update and it wasn't there - I hope it wasn't a pain to locate).

Anyway, I hope you will enjoy Chapter 6, it's a bit short. Just to let you know.

* * *

**Chapter 6:**

"Let's just go guys, he's a fake anyway," Rachel muttered quietly, though a part of her felt incredibly sad, especially for Scarecrow Brittany.

Tin Man Santana looked really angry as she patted Scarecrow Brittany's back and drew her into a small hug.

Lion Quinn nuzzled her head against Rachel's leg and let out a sad rumble.

"I'm sorry that none of you will receive the gifts you thought he might be able to give," she said to them.

"But, what about you?" Scarecrow Brittany asked.

"It doesn't matter,"

"Yes it does, you have to get home,"

"And I'll find my way home, there has to be a way,"

As the three got up Rachel looked back up at the tower and yelled out, "Family means nothing to the Wizard anyway, he cares more about staying safe in the tower than being an actual father,"

The Ozians gasped at that.

"You can't say that about the Wizard," the Ozians yelled at her.

"You are home, I'm not, so excuse me if I'm a little upset here," Rachel snapped back, "My friends risked their lives to be here with me because they had some hope that the Wizard would help, but is he helping, no, of course not, he doesn't care if it doesn't benefit him,"

"You should leave,"

"We're going,"

"C'mon Rach, maybe Glinda can find you another way home," Scarecrow Brittany said as Lion Quinn huffed angrily at the Ozians around them.

"Yeah, home," Rachel sighed, "I mean, sure, the Glee Club may have mixed feelings about me being back, but my fathers will miss me, and I miss them, they are the best Dads ever,"

Scarecrow Brittany smiled at that as Tin Man Santana took her hand and Lion Quinn stood up on her hind legs so that she could walk next to Rachel and hold her hand.

Rachel looked up at the tall Lion with a smile as the four made their way out of the Emerald City.

"WAIT!" the sentinel said, "He changed his mind, he's agreed to see you,"

Rachel shot him a sceptical look but followed him anyway, as the other three followed not too far behind her.

The four walked through the hallways of the castle until they came to one that seemed never ending.

Lion Quinn stopped for a moment.

"Quinn, what's wrong?" Rachel asked.

"I, I'm kinda, no, I'm," she stuttered.

"It's okay to admit when you're scared Quinn,"

"I'm, okay, I'm scared, I don't know if I can ask for courage, I just, I don't think I can do this,"

"You shouldn't be afraid of chasing after what you want, especially if it's something that you know is good for you,"

"Okay, because you're here Rachel,"

The four continued their walk towards the doors before they suddenly open themselves revealing the Throne Room to the travellers.

"COME FORWARD," the Wizard boomed at them as Rachel rolled her eyes and then wondered why that voice sounded too familiar.

The four entered the room, three out of the four were trembling a bit in fear and worry. You can probably guess which one wasn't and was still rolling her eyes as she kept them peeled for the hidden room.

"Whoa, golly, look at that," Scarecrow Brittany said as they all saw a large green throne before them.

Just then the pyrotechnics played and flames burst all around the throne before a large head appeared.

"I am Oz, the great and powerful," the Wizard boomed at them, "And who are you?"

"I'm Rachel Berry," Rachel said as she stood staunchly in front of the wizard.

"And who are the others?"

"My friends, they've been meaning to ask you,"

"I know why they're here,"

"I'm sure you do,"

"You are an insolent sounding child, your friends are here because that useless Tin Man needs a heart, that blundering Scarecrow wants a brain and that meek hearted Lion wants some courage,"

"Don't insult my friends, why bring us in here if you are just going to insult them…your grace?"

"And what is that you want then? You have yet to say,"

"To get home to Ohio, but let me guess, you want us to do something for you in return,"

"Why, how'd you know that?"

"I'm psychic,"

"You are insolent, I wonder if I should grant you your desires,"

"My friends deserve to have their hearts desires granted to them,"

"Fine, Oz, the great and powerful has every intention of granting your requests, BUT, you must first do a task for me,"

"Which is?" Rachel asked, although she knew what was coming.

"You have to defeat the Wicked Witch of the West, bring me her broomstick as evidence of her defeat,"

"Fine," Rachel said confidently.

"Rachel, do you think we can do that?" Lion Quinn asked as she trembled.

"We can, please trust me," Rachel said to Lion Quinn.

"Okay, because it's you,"

"Quinn, do me a favour,"

"Yes?"

"See that curtain over there?"

"Yes,"

"Pull it, I'll show you three who the wizard really is,"

"Okay," Lion Quinn trembled a bit but did as Rachel asked and went and pulled the curtain.

As the curtain fell, Rachel's face did too, or rather, it became shocked as to who was behind the curtain.

"Oh my god, Figgins?" Rachel said, "How the heck are you the Wizard? I thought you'd be, I don't know, some white guy, okay that sounded racists but you know what I mean,"

"I, don't, ignore the man behind the curtain,"

"Really?"

"I, fine, you got me,"

"You're the wizard?"

"I, I, I'm not the real Wizard, just the stand in,"

"Well that's kind of a let-down, if you're not the real wizard, then where is he?"

"In the tower, he said, he told me that I had to tell you to defeat the witch and then he'd help you and your friends,"

"Why are you standing in?"

"Because he asked me to, or rather, Morrible asked me to,"

Rachel rolled her eyes, "Wait, Morrible? She's here?'

"Yes, she's his advisor, she is powerful too, so, when they asked, I said I would, I'm sorry if I scared you,"

Lion Quinn didn't like being made a fool of as she growled angrily and pounced on Figgins.

"Why'd you say those horrible things to us? Why'd you scare us?" she growled.

Figgins shrieked, "I'm sorry, the Wizard told me to be tough,"

"Why Rachel? Why against the Witch?"

"Because Rachel has the shoes, and they're powerful and full of magic, he knows it, so he figured that she is more than capable, and that, if she wants those wonderful things for herself and you three, she has to do it,"

Lion Quinn growled as Rachel patted her back.

"We wish the real Wizard would have at least given us the dignity of an audience with him," Rachel said, "But I guess this will do, c'mon guys, let's go,"

"You, you're not scared of the witch?" Figgins asked her.

"No, not really," Rachel said as she left the room, unaware that a pair of eyes were watching her movements.

On their way out of the Emerald City, the four picked up some supplies for themselves, donated to them by some of the Ozians there. Why donated? Because the Sentinel had announced that Rachel and her companions were off to defeat the Wicked Witch of the West, and when that news spread, almost everyone was willing to give them some supplies that Rachel carried with her, as well as Tin Man Santana.

As they walked on their way, Tin Man Santana looked at Rachel, "How'd you know?" she asked.

"In my world, there's this movie called 'The Wizard of Oz', I've seen it so many times," she said to her, "That's how I knew the Wizard was a fake, I just didn't expect it to be Figgins,"

"Well, he did say he was a stand in," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"I know,"

"I'm kinda bummed now, I was hoping he would be this cool powerful looking guy," Lion Quinn said as she bounded next to Rachel.

"I'm sorry that I'm a buzz kill, but I figured, I guess I was angry and selfish, but I wanted to reveal him for who he was, if not to Oz then at least to you guys because you're my friends and I felt you should know," Rachel said.

"It's cool Tiny, we know, besides, if he's just the stand in, maybe the Wizard will actually be all that,"

"I suppose that remains to be seen,"

"You reckon he's the real deal?"

"I don't know, there are some things in this world that are predictable and I knew what would happen..."

"So, if you know what's going to happen, I guess you know how to defeat the Witch? Right?" Lion Quinn asked as she cut her sentence off.

"Not really, there are similarities but there are some things that are different as well, some things I didn't expect," Rachel answered.

"Like?" Tin Man Santana asked.

"Names, the appearance of a fake wizard, details that I'll think over later, right now I want to think about the Witch of the West and how to approach her,"

"How are we going to defeat the Witch?"

"We're going to talk to her,"

"Wait, that's your big plan? You're going to talk to her?"

"Yes, please just trust me,"

"Hey, I'm made of tin, I don't feel anything, but if something happens to Britts, I'm coming after you,"

"I'm counting on it," Rachel said as Tin Man Santana wondered what she was talking about.

As the four kept walking, they didn't notice a bubble high above them; in that bubble was a woman who was keeping an eye on them. Next to that bubble was a woman on a broomstick.

"I've got to hand it to her, that girl is spunky," Elphaba said to Glinda.

"She is," Glinda said as she looked at Elphaba, "Elphie, I have to find out what happened, okay, I'm going to find out how that girl got here and I'm going to find out why the Wizard wants you dead,"

"Because I'm a threat my sweet, I scare him, and he knows it, he has no real power, just his words,"

"There's something else Elphie, I know it, he made his stand-in go in his stead and I need to find out why, also, Morrible is up to something, I can feel it,"

"I know, how else do you think Figgins or the Wizard knew about what those four wanted, it had to be Morrible who told them, she is quite powerful,"

"I've been getting better, I mean, I don't think she'd do anything bad to me, she likes that I'm good for the image of the Wizard and her, anyway, I have to go,"

"Be careful my sweet,"

"It's you who should be careful Elphie,"

"I'll be fine,"

"I mean it Elphie, I want you to promise me that you'll be fine and that you'll be safe,"

"I'll try,"

Glinda just shot her a look from the bubble as she disappeared.

Elphaba sighed as she figured it's time to go back to Kiamo Ko Castle and figure out how to get Rachel to talk to her alone without the other three trying to kill her in the process.

'This is going to be fun,' Elphaba thought to herself as she watched the three approach the edge of the haunted forest.

* * *

**AN 2:** I hummed and harred about this for a while, and while I thought it would be hilarious if Figgins was the Wizard, genetically with regards to the world of Wicked (and those of you who know of the Play why - but please don't spoil it for others), it wouldn't actually work and it'd be a bit odd (for me anyway).

I hope you guys enjoyed that, I'm sorry if some of you were put off by Rachel's actions, but I figured it'd probably be something she'd do if she were there (at least in my interpretation of some aspects of her character).

Next chapter not too far away.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

"Oh my god, Quinn's dead," Rachel said in an almost sarcastic tone as she looked at the Lion who was lying on the ground and looking like she had passed out, mind you, Tin Man Santana had just hit her across the head with the butt end of her axe really hard.

"Nope, now Santana is, oh look, she just lost her head," Scarecrow Brittany said, also in an almost sarcastic tone but seemed more amused than anything else.

The two were standing side by side as they watched the Tin Man and the Lion fight with each other.

Currently the Tin Man was losing and that was only because Lion Quinn cheated and knocked her head off.

"You puta, I oughta kick your butt, get back here, hey, drop my head, drop it," Tin Man Santana yelled at Lion Quinn.

But the Lion didn't listen to her as she shook the Tin Man's head really hard.

"Oh god I'm feeling dizzy," Tin Man Santana said, "Crazy genius slapper,"

"Do you think we should stop them?" Rachel asked Scarecrow Brittany.

"Nope, this is highly amusing," Scarecrow Brittany said with a slight grin and a laugh.

"Oh look, Quinn's losing again," Rachel mused.

Sure enough, the Lion was seen rolling down the side of a hill and into a meadow area as the Tin Man managed to get her body to kick the Lion's butt hard enough to make her drop her head and force her to roll down a hill. Somersaulting most of the time before she landed on her head, butt up in the air, causing Rachel and Scarecrow Brittany to laugh incredibly hard and the Tin Man to smirk at her genius as she managed to pick up her head and dust it.

Lion Quinn roared as she collected herself.

Now Tin Man Santana would have had the upper hand, had she not put her head back on facing the wrong way.

"Wait a minute, that's not r….ooph," she said as Lion Quinn knocked into her again.

"No one can defeat the Lion Quinn, the Lion Quinn is Queen," Lion Quinn roared.

"Yeah, Queen of the Cry-babies," Tin Man Santana said in a huff, "Now get off me,"

"No, you're going to apologise to Quinn for slapping her in the face very, very, hard,"

"In theory that could work, but we'll just see if it actually happens,"

"Then I'm going to stick your head up in that tree and you can walk around like the headless horseman,"

"You wouldn't dare,"

"Oh I would, teach you for hitting me across the face," Lion Quinn said as she again ripped Tin Man Santana's head from her body and stuck it up the tree.

"Hey, get me down, I'll kick your butt, I can actually see well from up here," Tin Man Santana said as Lion Quinn pounced away, "Besides you started it,"

"I did not, you slapped me in the face first for no reason,"

"Because you shoved me,"

"I did not,"

"Get me down Furball,"

"No, OW," Lion Quinn screeched as Tin Man Santana's body had crept up behind her and kicked her in the butt, again.

Rachel and Scarecrow Brittany just looked on, partially in tears from laughter and other part just highly amused.

You may wonder what started this commotion, well, when the four arrived at the edge of the Haunted Forest, Lion Quinn began to shake and say she didn't want to go in.

Tin Man Santana had told her not be such a scaredy cat and that there was nothing in the forest that could harm her since the Tin Man had her axe with her.

Scarecrow Brittany then stated that there were spooks in the forest, which made Lion Quinn tremble that bit more as she shook and moved not too far from the Tin Man.

"Scaredy Cat," the Tin Man had said only to be hit in the head by a large rock, "Hey, that dinged my tin, stop it,"

But another stone was cast until one large one was finally thrown at her head.

"Cut it out you stupid Lion," the Tin Man growled.

"I didn't do anything," Lion Quinn said as she looked around.

"Yeah right,"

Again Tin Man Santana was hit in the head by a rock as she had turned around to walk, she turned in fury at Lion Quinn but the Lion hadn't actually done anything.

The Tin Man then turned around and kept walking a bit only to be shoved from behind, hard.

"Oh that's it, bring it," the Tin Man challenged as she walked up to Lion Quinn and slapped her incredibly hard across the face.

Lion Quinn not liking being slapped had let out a loud roar as she pushed the Tin Man back; that action caused the fight to start.

The two had tumbled back out of the haunted forest much to Rachel and Scarecrow Brittany's initial annoyance and began fighting.

Tin Man Santana accused Lion Quinn of hitting her first, Lion Quinn said it wasn't her and that the Tin Man was stupid for even thinking it was her.

Which is how we are now at this point, Tin Man Santana's head currently stuck in the tree and Lion Quinn trying to dodge the angry Tin Man's body that was attempting to kick her butt.

"Maybe we should step in now, it's been fifteen minutes, I don't think they'll let up," Rachel said to Scarecrow Brittany.

"Okay," Scarecrow Brittany sighed, "They're just like children,"

"They are,"

"You two, stop it," Scarecrow Brittany growled as the two stopped yelling and fighting with each other, "Quinn, get Santana's head out of the tree, NOW,"

"But," Lion Quinn started.

"NOW,"

"Okay,"

"And Santana, stop trying to kick Quinn, it wasn't her fault, I told you there were spooks in there and you didn't listen, Quinn was at least one metre behind you when you were shoved,"

"There are no such things as spooks," Tin Man Santana growled as Lion Quinn got her head down from the tree and handed it to her body.

"Whatever, it wasn't Quinn's fault, now play nice you two, thanks to your fighting, we've gone downhill, literally,"

Tin Man Santana grumbled as she put her head back on her shoulders and the two finally agreed to play nice.

Rachel on the other hand decided that perhaps they should just rest for a while since she was tired from just chasing after the two.

"You get tired way too quickly," Tin Man Santana said to Rachel as the brunette decided to sit down in the fields and eat.

"It's not my fault that you're made of tin and can't feel," Rachel shot back.

"Hey, don't dig at me,"

"I'm not, I'm stating, besides we've been walking for three hours, lost fifteen minutes thanks to you two fighting like children, I'm exhausted, and let me tell you, these damn shoes are not comfortable,"

"Why don't you take them off?"

"Stupid magic won't let me,"

"Say what?"

"I can't take them off, I tried once,"

"Try again,"

"No thanks, I just want to rest,"

"She said we're resting, so let's rest," Lion Quinn growled at Tin Man Santana as Scarecrow Brittany plopped down next to Rachel.

"I guess it's a good time to rest, I feel like just taking a break anyway," she said, "You two, while funny, can be exhausting,"

"I thought that you're like me B, you don't get tired," Tin Man Santana said.

"I don't, but it doesn't mean that I don't like taking a break now and then,"

"Oh,"

"C'mon Sanny, come sit, relax, it's not like the Witch is going anywhere,"

Tin Man Santana gave a small sigh as she went to sit down with the other three.

"You know, I find it awfully convenient that there are just fields and meadows around that we can sit on the moment you're tired," Tin Man Santana commented and directed it at Rachel.

"The Wonderful Land of Oz," Rachel said as she leaned against Lion Quinn's side, "Besides, you two rolled here first, so it's your fault,"

Lion Quinn looked down at her as she playfully rolled to the side so that she would end up on her back and Rachel's head would slide down the Lion's side and to her tummy, one front leg was up in the air.

"Quinn!" Rachel laughed as she looked up at the face of the grinning Lion.

"I still find it funny that a female Lion has a mane, or maybe she's a boy but is too small," Tin Man Santana started.

"Sanny, don't ruin moments, besides I think it's cool she has a mane," Scarecrow Brittany said as she pushed Tin Man Santana a bit before Lion Quinn could growl.

Lion Quinn smirked when Tin Man Santana clammed up.

Rachel just shrugged as she leaned against the Lion's exposed stomach and ran her hand up the Lion's chest.

Lion Quinn began to purr at that.

"She looks like a dog getting her belly scratched," Tin Man Santana muttered to Scarecrow Brittany.

"Yeah, a bit, they're cute though," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"But not as cute as us,"

"We're not cute, we're hot,"

"True that,"

"Exactly,"

After Rachel felt rested enough the four decided to make their way back to the Haunted Forest.

"See, there are no such things as spooks," Tin Man Santana declared again.

"You seriously don't believe in spooks?" Scarecrow Brittany asked.

"Of course….WHOA!" Tin Man Santana yelped as she was hoisted into the air and thrown back down again.

"Oh my god, Sanny," Scarecrow Brittany said as Lion Quinn bounded up and hid behind Rachel with the brunette raising her eyebrow at the Lion with a 'really?' look.

"I retract that statement," Tin Man Santana muffled through the muddy ground.

"Oh this is going to be so much fun," Rachel said as she looked at the three of them.

"Why?" Lion Quinn asked.

"Because according to the sign just over there, we're just getting started, Kiamo Ko is about five hours that way," she said as she pointed in the direction of Kiamo Ko.

"That way?" Lion Quinn said in surprise as her jaw dropped when she saw the path.

"Yep,"

Before the four was the path that they would have to take; and it was not just any path, this path that lead them deeper into the haunted woods; though that was a given; and to make matters worse it was all up hill and that track looked like it would take at least two hours before they could see anything else.

"Oh great," Tin Man Santana muttered.

"Well, I guess we're wasting daylight, we should go," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"B, it doesn't matter, there's no sun at all, it's just dark,"

"Let's just go, the sooner we get to Kiamo Ko, the quicker we can get out of the scary darkness," Rachel said as Lion Quinn scooted closer to the brunette as the four began their long arduous task of walking uphill for at least the next two hours.

"This completely blows," Tin Man Santana said and Rachel was inclined to agree with her.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: **Okay, just to let you all know, this chapter will start off childish and then turn** quite a bit angsty** and **dark**.

There is also a character **death** of sorts in this - but not a main.

Hope you will enjoy Chapter 8.**  
**

* * *

**Chapter 8:**

"Are we there yet" Tin Man Santana moaned.

"No," Rachel said back.

"Are we there now?"

"No,"

"Are we there yet?"

"No,"

"How about now?"

"For the ten millionth eight hundredth and fifty-sixth time, No, No, NO SANTANA!"

"But we've been walking for so long, we should be there now,"

"Well we're not,"

"Listen here Tin Can, we're going to have a smack down if you don't shut the heck up," Lion Quinn growled.

"I'll kick your butt,"

"I'll go pee pee on you so your face will rust,"

"Ew, what are you? Five?"

"Quinn, that's disgusting," Rachel added.

"She's annoying, I want to rust her mouth shut, besides that way we won't waste our precious water supply by throwing it at her," Lion Quinn said as Scarecrow Brittany just shook her head.

"Sanny, stop it, I don't know why you're complaining we only just left the sign," Scarecrow Brittany said as the four looked back and saw the sign that Rachel had read about ten metre's away from them.

"I just, I don't want to walk up that stupid hill, this place is scar…I mean stinky," Tin Man Santana said.

"You're scared of this place too," Lion Quinn smirked as a loud hoot was heard making the Lion jump and scramble behind Rachel, again.

"Quinn, I don't know why you keep hiding behind me, I doubt I'd offer much protection in a crisis situation," Rachel said as she gazed up and saw some red eyed owls and vultures glaring down at them; they made her tremble a bit as she looked away.

"I always feel better with you," The Lion said as she poked her head out from behind Rachel so that the brunette could pat her head and sigh.

"Let's keep going," Tin Man Santana said, "Those birds give me the creeps,"

"Agreed," Lion Quinn said.

It had been about three hours now and the four had finally made it to the perceived top of the path, which didn't really yield too much, as it was just another crossroad.

Three directions to choose from, and no idea where to go but through more forest.

Most of the trek up to that point was incredibly monotonous, there were a few spooks here and there, but with Scarecrow Brittany making sure that Tin Man Santana wouldn't react to them, and with Rachel comforting Lion Quinn, they were eventually left alone.

They had small talk here and there, but nothing much really.

Scarecrow Brittany decided that since she didn't really know much about the Tin Man, she wanted to know more about her life.

After all, Tin Man Santana knew a bit about her, she knew that the Scarecrow was once human too, and that she had gone to Shiz University to study dance and that she had family in the Lower Uplands.

Another thing that they learnt was that the Scarecrow was always afraid that she was just too stupid for anyone to understand, which the Tin Man disagreed with.  
She told the Scarecrow that people rarely took the time to understand things that were new or different to them because they were scared of something that could affect the bubble they had created for themselves. She even told the Scarecrow that she was fine and beautiful as she was and that she should never change how she saw life; Scarecrow Brittany had smiled at that.

So because she had told about her life, a bit, the Scarecrow had to know more about the Tin Man who always seemed so closed up about who she was and what her story was.

"Well, I was married once," the Tin Man had said finally.

"You were?" Scarecrow Brittany said in surprise.

"Yeah, but I haven't seen her in years, actually come to think of it, she lives around here somewhere,"

"In the Haunted Forest?"

"No, no, the outskirts, somewhere that way if I remember correctly, but I haven't seen her in about ten years, we were quite young when we met,"

"So, what happened?"

"She said that I was married to my job, I worked too much and in the end she couldn't take it anymore, she told me that she had to go home to her family, if they took her back,"

"Why wouldn't they take her back?"

"She married me,"

"Oh?"

"I'm became a Tin Man, her family didn't like that, I'm also a woman, they hated that even more, they said that I would stop her from her dreams, that the World just wouldn't accept us, that we'd be forever stuck in one place, never moving forward,"

Rachel was listening in on the story quietly as Lion Quinn listened too.

"But Dani and I, we just worked, you know, but after a while, things got weird, I started to work more, and she, she couldn't stand who I had to become, we tried, but after a while she told me that I wasn't the same, that we weren't meant to be and that she had to move on, but she wanted to go home first," Tin Man Santana finished as the four were currently looking at which direction to go with.

"Well, which way do we go now?" Rachel asked wanting to keep moving, she wanted to hear more about the Tin Man's story, but she figured they could hear more tales as they were walking towards Kiamo Ko.

"I don't know," Tin Man Santana said as she scratched her head.

"I thought you knew the place,"

"Oh no, not the haunted forest part of this, hell no, I stayed away from this place as much as I could,"

"Why?"

"Seriously Munchkin? It's because there are bad things in here, you hear stories,"

"Like what?"

"The Jitterbug for one,"

"That doesn't sound too bad,"

"The Jitterbug is known for biting you and making you dance to death, no one really knows how to escape it,"

"Okay, on a second thought then,"

"And I didn't want to come here; I avoided this forest as much as humanly possible,"

"Then why join us this time?"

"I don't know, I can't explain it, but I felt like I had to come,"

"It wouldn't have anything to do with Brittany would it?" Lion Quinn asked.

The Tin Man just shrugged her shoulders at that.

"I wish we didn't have to come through here," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"I know B, but it's apparently the faster way to go," Tin Man Santana replied as she patted Brittany's shoulder in comfort.

"So, which way should we go?" Rachel asked.

"Well, judging by the land marks, I think Dani used to live that way," Tin Man Santana said as she pointed in one direction, "And if I remember right, well, we'll be out of the woods eventually, Beatlesville is a large bit of land between this part of the forest and the next part, they live right on the outskirts, we can stop there for a bit, that way we can see if there's another way to Kiamo Ko, I know not many people go there now because of the witch but we can hope that there may be another way that won't involve a deeper part of the haunted forest, I don't like this place,"

Everyone just nodded their heads at that.

Eventually they weren't too far away from where Beatlesville was supposed to be.

"This isn't right," Tin Man Santana said, "We should be there by now, we should, Dani's home was here, I know it, I've been here before, okay, so it was from a different direction, but I know, I just, it has to be here,"

"We'll find it Sanny, maybe we're just a bit delayed because we took a wrong turn or something," Scarecrow Brittany offered.

Tin Man Santana just paused and looked over to one side and began running off the path at a quick pace.

Her screaming of the word 'no' could be heard as she repeated it over and over again.

"Sanny, come back," Scarecrow Brittany yelled as she ran after her.

"Santana get back on the path, you said this place was dangerous," Rachel called out but didn't move from her spot.

Lion Quinn didn't say anything as she just waited with Rachel.

A loud scream was heard that made the Lion change her mind as she put Rachel on her back and then raced on all fours towards where the Tin Man had run.

When they arrived at the scene it looked like a small village that had been taken over by the forest itself, there was debris everywhere, parts of the forest had intertwined with the buildings and paths, skeletons of those that had fallen there littered the once beautiful streets.

"Dani? DANI," Tin Man Santana screamed as she could be heard clanking through the streets, "DANI,"

The other three followed the Tin Man as they came to a small house on the edge of the small village.

They watched as Tin Man Santana walked into the house and picked up a small frame that held a picture of her when she was human; standing next to another woman.

The Tin Man looked around before running out into the back of the now broken house; and there she found her.

"Dani?" the Tin Man said as she knelt next to a body, "Oh Dani, what happened to you?"

The other three didn't know what to say as they watched the Tin Man cry.

"Are you sure it's her Sanny? That may not be her," Scarecrow Brittany said softly.

"It's her, that's the ring I gave her, she promised she'd never take it off," Tin Man Santana answered, "This was her house,"

"I'm so sorry,"

"Yeah me too, I got into Law Enforcement and I couldn't even protect her,"

"Sanny you're rusting,"

Rachel took out the oil can and gave it to the Scarecrow.

Scarecrow Brittany walked over to Tin Man Santana and began to wipe her tears as she began to oil the Tin Man to stop her from rusting.

Tin Man Santana held what remained of Dani close to her and kept whispering 'sorry' over and over again.

Rachel tried not to cry so she looked away and noticed Lion Quinn, ears pinned down to the side of her head.

The Lion was staring out in the distance.

"Quinn?" Rachel started.

"Something's watching us," the Lion said, "And I don't like it,"

"Sanny we should go," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"I have to bury her, I have to light a light so she'll find her family in the after life," Tin Man Santana said.

"S, there's no time," Lion Quinn started.

"Hey, leave me alone, you don't what it's like okay, Dani and I may not have talked to each other in a long, long time because she left, but that doesn't mean that I didn't care for her,"

"I know, but we should go, there's something here and I think we should go,"

"No, I'm burying her, it's the decent thing to do,"

"Maybe we can come back, there's something going on here and it's not right,"

"Then go Lion, I have someone I love to bury first,"

"I know you love her, but we have to go,"

"Look, just because no one loves you and probably wouldn't stay around to bury you when you're dead on the ground doesn't mean you get the right to make me move along because you're scared," the Tin Man snapped.

The Lion looked hurt as she sulked away from the three.

"Oh Quinn she doesn't mean that," Rachel said as the Lion lay on the ground in a curled ball with a wounded whimper her only sound.

"Sanny, I know you're hurting, but what you said wasn't right," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"I don't care," Tin Man Santana said as she started digging a grave before laying what was left of her late estranged wife into the ground, "I'll find out what happened to you Dani, I'll find out who did this to you, and if it was that green witch, I'll kill her with my bare hands,"

Rachel on the other hand went to Lion Quinn and ran her hands across her back before letting them rest in her mane.

"Oh Quinn please don't cry," Rachel whispered softly, "She doesn't mean it,"

But the Lion just let out a pained growl before she whimpered again and curled tighter into a ball.

"Quinn," Rachel started.

"Leave me alone Rachel," Lion Quinn grumbled.

"Quinn, we have to leave the Haunted Forest, there's something about this place,"

"It's the Dark Forest for a reason, now leave me alone,"

"Dark Forest?"

"Another name for this place," Scarecrow Brittany said as she caught up to Rachel, "Quinn, please don't be sad, Sanny didn't mean it, she's just angry, mostly at herself and when she's angry she lashes out at everyone,"

"Leave me alone,"

"Please Quinn,"

"I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE," the Lion roared angrily as the Tin Man rushed up to them.

"What the heck?" she started.

"Leave me alone, all of you, just leave me alone, everyone always leaves anyway, so go away,"

"Heck no you didn't just say that to me,"

"I did, now go away,"

Tin Man Santana threw something at the Lion that made her get up and glare angrily at her.

Lion Quinn pounced at the Tin Man and shoved her.

"Get your paws off me," Tin Man Santana said as she shoved the Lion back.

"Sanny, Quinn, please don't, stop the violence" Scarecrow Brittany started.

"Butt out Brittany this is none of your concern," the Tin Man snapped.

"Guys, please don't,"

"Hey, I just found out that my ex-wife and all I know is gone, so cut me a break here,"

"Sanny, I know you're angry, but please, we should leave in peace,"

"THEN LEAVE STRAW BRAIN, I DON'T NEED YOU AROUND ME ANYWAY,"

Scarecrow Brittany looked incredibly hurt as she stepped away from the Tin Man and took Rachel's hand and lead her away, leaving the Tin Man and the Lion alone together, breathing hard and looking at the two retreating figures. Feeling awful about how they had acted.

"Brittany, I'm sure she didn't mean it," Rachel started as the two walked away.

"Doesn't matter," the Scarecrow said.

"What do we do Brittany?"

"We have to keep going, if those two won't move or make peace, we have to go,"

"We can't leave them behind, it's not safe here,"

"I know Rachel, but we have to get you home, I don't care if I don't get my brain, I care about you, and I want you to get home safe even if those two won't help because they're too angry at themselves and each other,"

Rachel just looked at the Scarecrow in gratitude, "Thank you,"

"I mean it, I know that you probably won't stay, actually I say it's a likelihood, I know home is a bigger deal to you than you're making it, S and Q, they'll come around, we just have to leave them to their vices and let them calm down, they'll catch up,"

Rachel nodded her head as she and the Scarecrow started walking away from the broken house in the broken little town.

"Something's not right with the air," Rachel commented.

"You think the witch did it?" Scarecrow Brittany asked.

"Yes, but which witch?"

"I don't know, the green one?"

"No, I don't think so, something is just so off about this, it's like nature took over and it shouldn't have, I don't know what's going on but it's strange, this place is different from what I thought Oz would be, it's darker here for some reason,"

"Hmmm,"

"Brittany, we can't leave them," Rachel said with a sigh as she stopped at the edge of the town on the side that would lead them back to the path they were on.

"I know, this is harder than I thought it'd be,"

But before Rachel could say anything else something started to attack her making her scream.

Glaring flame coloured eyes glared at her as vines attacked her and threw her to the side.

Scarecrow Brittany screamed too as the straw that held her body up was being torn away from her.

But Rachel heard no more as her eyes closed to the sound of a roar and the swing of an axe.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

Rachel woke up to a warm fire and a warm furry body next to her.

"How long was I out?" she asked as she sat up.

"Two hours, you and Brittany," Tin Man Santana replied.

Rachel heard a grumble behind her and realised that she had been sleeping next to Lion Quinn who was currently asleep and had pulled her closer to her with her large paws.

"What happened?" Rachel asked as the Lion subconsciously tightened her grip on the brunette.

"Vicious Vines, literally, they have glowing fire red eyes and are carnivorous, they strangle their prey before slowly sucking their life essence away," Tin Man Santana replied.

"Oh, I guess, thank you for saving me, you and Quinn,"

"Yeah, I've never seen her so ferocious before, she attacked the vines like her life depended on it,"

"I'll have to thank her when she wakes up,"

After a moment Rachel suddenly panicked, "Brittany where is she? How is she?"

"She's fine, see," Tin Man Santana said as she pointed at the dozing Scarecrow.

"I thought she couldn't sleep,"

"No, she doesn't require sleep, but I guess she wanted to just doze, I mean she did have her body literally torn apart, I found the straw and put her back together,"

Rachel just smiled before saying, "I'm sorry about Dani,"

"Yeah me too," Tin Man Santana said as she looked back in the direction of Beatlesville.

The fight had been on her mind since she and Lion Quinn had rescued the Scarecrow and the brunette.

The two had calmed down a bit and then realised that in their anger, they had pushed the two away.

Lion Quinn began to mope again but her ears had perked up the moment she heard Rachel and Scarecrow Brittany scream.

Wasting no time the two ran towards the screams.

Lion Quinn had let out a loud roar as she started slashing at the vines that held Rachel as Tin Man Santana had started chopping away at the vines that were tearing Scarecrow Brittany apart.

Eventually the two were done and the vines had all been destroyed.

"Good job Furball," Tin Man Santana said.

"Not so bad yourself Tin Can," Lion Quinn said as she went near Rachel.

"B, B, are you okay?"

"Hi S, I'm currently all over the place," Scarecrow Brittany joked.

"I'll put you back together B,"

"Where's Rachel?"

"Quinn has her,"

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah, just passed out,"

"We have to get her home S,"

"I know, but first we'll rest, okay?"

"Okay,"

After the Tin Man had put the Scarecrow back together, she started a fire, making sure the flame would cause the smoke to turn blue. It was just something that she had done ever since she became a Tin Man Law Enforcer. It was a way for other Tin Men to know that the person who had started the fire was a fellow officer, that it was a place of protection, only the Tin Men knew the secrets of how to create the blue smoke.

Now as the Tin Man watched Rachel slowly lean back on Lion Quinn's side again and begin to doze off, she decided that she'd keep watch and thought over what had transpired.

It was about an hour later that a noise got her attention.

Lion Quinn woke up at that too.

"What do you see Q?" Tin Man Santana asked.

Lion Quinn gazed around, she saw movement in the trees and trembled but fought against her fear, she had to protect Rachel, she wasn't going to let anything get Rachel again.

"Wings, a creature with wings, and it's moving fast, it reminds me of a monkey," Lion Quinn said as she tracked the movements.

The Tin Man got up as she picked up Rachel in her arms making Lion Quinn growl.

"Hey, I'm just putting her by Britts, okay," the Tin Man said as the Lion howled, yes, howled, "Will you stop it and be quiet, she'll be fine,"

Lion Quinn just shot Tin Man Santana a glare.

"Do you want to keep her safe or not?" the Tin Man challenged.

Lion Quinn just sighed as she got up and was about to lick the top of Rachel's head before the Tin Man stopped her.

"Hey, don't forget her skin is incredibly soft compared to ours, you lick her head, you could cause her to bleed, your tongue is like sand paper," the Tin Man pointed out.

Lion Quinn pouted, if a Lion could do such a thing.

"C'mon, let's go see what the heck is spying on us," Tin Man Santana said as Lion Quinn nodded her head and started stalking.

It didn't take long before the Lion let out a roar and pounced on a small winged monkey that let out a loud screech that woke both Scarecrow Brittany and Rachel up making the two sit up.

"What happened? What's going on?" Rachel asked in a rushed manner.

"Oh god, please don't eat me, I was just seeing if you had food and weren't dangerous, oh god, please don't eat me," the winged monkey said as Lion Quinn carried him in her mouth to the campfire.

"Sam?" Rachel said as she looked at the monkey that the Lion unceremoniously dropped on to the ground before putting a paw on top of him to stop him from moving.

"How'd you know my name?" Sam the Monkey asked in a struggled voice as he tried to breathe but sounded like he was choking.

"Oh, long story, Quinn, let him go, I think he's okay," Rachel said as Lion Quinn growled and let the monkey go so that he could sit up and brush at his clothes and face.

"Thanks pretty girl,"

"Hey, paws off," Lion Quinn growled.

"Quinn stop acting jealous, sorry, Sam, how long have you been following us? And what do you want?" Rachel asked.

"I, I'm hungry, I saw you just as the vines attacked you, my family are all gone, the forest, it came alive and took over all the towns here, and, and,"

"Yes?"

"And I need, can you please get your Lion to stop glaring at me?She's creeping me out, she looks like she wants to eat me,"

"Quinn, stop it," Rachel said as the Lion stopped and leaned her head on Rachel's lap so that the brunette could stroke her face and mane, "Sorry, she's just protective,"

"I see that, anyway, I'm uh, a friend of mine from China Town, she needs help, please, can you come and help us?"

"I guess, how far away is this place?"

"Oh heck no, no, we are not going to save someone else, we have to get to Kiamo Ko," Tin Man Santana said.

"Then why are you guys coming this way? Kiamo Ko is that way and you can avoid quite a bit of the Dark Forest if you need to," Sam the Monkey as he pointed in the direction of where Kiamo Ko was.

The Scarecrow, Lion and brunette all looked at the Tin Man.

"Whoops," Tin Man Santana said, "Hey, since we took the wrong way, we at least found him,"

"I'll give it to you," Lion Quinn said as she got up, "C'mon, let's go, is China Town safer than here?"

"No, it's just the same," Sam the Monkey said as he guided them to where China Town was, "A spell was cast here, those who couldn't get protection or run fast enough were killed where they stood, this place is a dark place,"

"I always thought Oz would be brighter than this, it's how I thought of the place, but it's starting to become so dark," Rachel said as she looked at the small winged monkey, "Sam, I'm confused, I thought this place was called the Haunted Forest,"

"The proper name of this forest is the Dark Haunted Forest, unoriginal I know, but it is, some people just call it Haunted because of the spooks and other ghostly things are at one end that way, closer to the Emerald City, and the Dark things are this way, there are some places where it's a mixture of both, either way, bad things exist here,"

"Then why did you stay?"

"I had no choice, my family, I tried to help them, I really did, Stevie and Stacey, they're gone, and it's all that Witch's fault,"

"Who? The Witch of the West?"

"Witch of the what?"

"West, you know, completely green, wears black, rides a broom,"

"Oh no, not her, she helps us, she wants justice for all of us who are different, especially Animals like me and your Lion friend who's back to glaring at me,"

"Wait, the green bean is helping you?" Tin Man Santana asked.

"Yeah, she's really nice, she tried to stop the forest from over growing but she couldn't, someone is controlling the weather and the forest, they're causing it to over grow, they're causing the beings here to go insane, the Dark Forest never used to be this bad and it stayed where it should have, but those of us who didn't believe the Wizard, we were taken care of so to speak, I guess that's why the forest over grew, it was to destroy those who would question the great and wonderful Oz,"

"So Beatlesville," Tin Man Santana started.

"Was overrun by the forest too because they didn't believe that the Wizard was who he said he was, they believed he lied, there was this woman, Dani I think her name was, she married a Tin Man, but I don't know what happened to them, Dani came back and her parents told her that her partner was working for the Wizard, and she heavily denied it, anyway, Dani became one of the people who rallied to help Elphaba,"

"Who?"

"The green witch, she believed her when she said that all she wanted to do was help the Animals and have justice for all of us, everyone, Munchkins, Animal's, Slaves, Gilikins, and I like the green witch, she's really nice, strict and hard to read sometimes, but she's good, I don't know why the Wizard hates her so much,"

"Because she has power that he does not," Rachel said finally.

"Tell me about Dani," Tin Man Santana said.

"She was really pretty, and really nice, and I liked her singing," Sam the Monkey said, "And she had a heart of gold, she'd visit us with bananas and she'd go see my friend in China Town, everyone liked her, she'd work a lot on the underground to help Elphaba but she was betrayed,"

"By who?"

"We don't know, I can guess who, but,"

"Who?"

"This guy named Marsh, he wanted to marry her since she came back and said that she had split from the Tin Man; but she didn't trust him, and she didn't like him, so she said no, he knew about her like everyone else, but he was greedy and power hungry,"

"What happened to him?"

"He was killed in an uprising, good riddance I say, hey, we're here,"

The four followed the monkey as he raced through China Town.

China Town was literally a small town that was made of china, and it was beautiful. Sadly though the town was over-run by some of the roots from the trees, and it looked like a fight had taken place.

"What the hell happened?" Tin Man Santana asked as Scarecrow Brittany took her pinky in her hand.

"War, the Wizard's Forces, the Tin Men, they came here and they destroyed the village, much like Beatlesville, they killed all who stood in their way, they imprisoned those who spoke out against the wizard," Sam the Monkey said.

"Tin Men you say,"

"Yes, but something wasn't right about them, I saw it, but no one believes me,"

"What?"

"They're being controlled, I saw something sitting at the base of their necks, it's like a tick, but metallic,"

"Like a controlling chip?" Rachel offered.

"Yes, like that,"

"You think someone's controlling them?" Tin Man Santana asked.

"Yes, anyway, let's find my friend,"

The four looked around until they came upon a house.

"Oh, she must be in here," Sam the Monkey said as he rushed off, his wings opening and closing as he jumped towards and into the house that reminded Rachel of a very large teapot.

"SAM!" a voice was heard saying happily.

"Hey, I got us some help," Sam said to whoever it was he was talking to.

Lion Quinn, not thinking about how large she was compared to the monkey and the china creature inside the house stuck her head in through the crack in the wall making the china girl scream.

Lion Quinn yelped in surprise as she pulled her head out and scrambled backwards. Rachel was giggling at the sight as she stepped in.

"Hi, I'm Rachel, we're here to try and help you,"

"Hi, hi, I, I, I, I'm, T, T, T, Tina," the small china doll said.

"How can we help you?"

"My legs, they're broken, much like my home and my life,"

"Oh she's so cute," Scarecrow Brittany said as she entered the small house, Tin Man Santana stayed outside with Lion Quinn, "Oh no, how do we fix you?"

"Brittany don't you have glue in your bag?" Rachel asked.

"Oh yeah, what a coincidence, um, why do I have glue in my bag?"

"I don't know, luck,"

Scarecrow Brittany shrugged her shoulders as Rachel took the glue and began to piece Tina Doll's legs back in place before helping her stand up properly.

"Tha, tha, thank you," Tina Doll said.

"No problem,"

Just then screeches could be heard outside.

"Oh no, hide," Tina Doll said as everyone scrambled to find a hiding spot.

Tina Doll, Rachel, Sam the Monkey and Scarecrow Brittany stayed hidden inside the house.

Unfortunately Lion Quinn and Tin Man Santana weren't fast enough as the screeches were heard stopping and something landed just outside the house.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" a voice that sounded very familiar said, "A Tin Man and a Lion, oh I recognise you Tin Man,"

Tin Man Santana didn't say anything.

"And Lion, what are you doing so far from home? Your family not want you?" the voice shrilled in a mocking way, "Or did you finally snap in anger that you chased away the one person who could have loved you?"

Lion Quinn whimpered a bit.

"You, you're the one who cursed me," Tin Man Santana was heard spitting in rage.

"I did,"

"And you, you must have been the one who cursed Brittany,"

"The Scarecrow I stuck on a pole? Oh yes I did,"

"Why?"

"What does it matter? It's not like you can change her back, where are they now? That Scarecrow and that girl with the ruby slippers?"

"I'm not telling you, I thought you were trying to help us, why would you do this?"

"Power, why else?"

"Traitor,"

"Listen Tin Can, tell me where the Scarecrow and the girl are and I'll find a way to make you human again,"

"Never,"

"How about you Lion? Will you tell me where they are?"

"No," Lion Quinn growled, "I'll never tell,"

"Hmph, fine, monkeys, take them away to Zractla Castle; chain the Lion in the pit to die and the Tin Man, freeze her in the iron suit that bears the Tin Man's name,"

As Lion Quinn was heard growling in fear and pain, Tin Man Santana was heard yelling loudly, "Glinda, how could you betray us? How could you turn?"

"Very, very easily," Glinda was heard saying, "Take them away, lock them away forever; and you, search for that girl with the slippers, you find her, you bring her to me, understand?"

The large winged monkey nodded his head at her.

"Oh and if you find that Scarecrow, tear her apart, slowly, piece by piece, her heart is still very human, find it and crush it and she'll die," Glinda said.

"NO!" Tin Man Santana was heard screaming as everyone heard the iron suit slam shut freezing the Tin Man inside.

"Stupid Tin Man," Glinda said as she waved her hand at the monkeys, "Take her to the pit with that cowardly Lion and there they can die together,"

As everyone disappeared, a few of the monkeys were heard staying behind.

Rachel felt a fear that she hadn't in a long time. A tear fell from her face as she heard Lion Quinn screaming.

* * *

**AN:** Dun, dun, duuuuun, Twist. (I can almost hear some of you say 'Well duh').  
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.  
I will work on the next one during the course of my day as usual and hopefully have it up in the next twenty-four to twenty-five hours.  
Some things will be revealed next chapter, so it's not too long of a wait.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN:** So, I hope you all are prepared for a very, very, **long** chapter. (At least to me it's quite long).  
Also I changed the rating of this story from K+ to T as I wasn't sure with regards to ratings.

This chapter has a bit of **violence **in it and one can never be too sure.

Enjoy Chapter 10.

* * *

**Chapter 10:**

Lion Quinn kept snarling and roaring as the flying monkey's that held her finally arrived at a dark and twisted looking castle.

They unceremoniously dropped her into a pit that she knew she could never escape from; before seeing them drop Tin Man Santana in there with her.

"Chain her up good," Glinda instructed, "And muzzle her, we don't need her cries disturbing our peace,"

The monkey's did as told as the Lion was now completely chained down with Tin Man Santana propped up right in front of her, mocking her that she had a friend who would never be free ever again. Frozen forever to see the world pass her by as she would be trapped in her frozen hell.

Lion Quinn looked up and saw them close the top of the pit with a heavy iron gate that slowly rolled into place.

For a while the Lion fought against the chains that tried to hold her to one place, restricting her movements, but nothing worked.

The chains dug into her fur and skin causing it to bleed.

Eventually she had to admit defeat as she whimpered and lay down before resting her head on her paws, looking around here and there.

She cried, she wanted Rachel, she really did. The brunette just had a way of making her feel at peace and she wanted her there.

Again she tried to fight the chain that was at least holding her mouth shut, but it didn't work.

"She has enchanted the chains," a tired but preppy voice said.

Lion Quinn looked around and there on the wall not too far from her was a woman clad in pink. She looked tired and beaten, literally, and was chained by her wrists and hung up against the wall causing her pain and agony. The Lion could see it, she wanted nothing more than to try and get to the woman to help her and comfort her but couldn't.

Lion Quinn just whimpered as she looked at the woman.

"Oh Glinda my sweet," Glinda said above them with a sneer, "Who will save you now?"

"You're a monster, and my Elphie will find you and she will save me" the woman in pink said.

"My Elphie?"

"Yes, my Elphie because I knew you weren't her,"

"You're in love with the Wicked Witch of the West aren't you? It's the only way you'd have known, oh if only I'd known I would have stolen your identity a long time ago and made sure she suffered alongside you,"

"Elphie would have seen right through you, she knows me,"

"Oh I'm sure she does,"

"You'll never get away with this,"

"I have and I will," Glinda said as she started to walk away from the pit, "Besides, in a few hours, you'll probably be dead anyway, it's not like your body can sustain any more damage Glinda the Good Witch of the North,"

Lion Quinn started to feel confused, if the woman in the pit with her was Glinda the Good, then who the heck was the woman who had imprisoned them?

* * *

Meanwhile, back at China Town, the flying monkeys that had stayed behind were heard arguing about staying behind before starting their search for the hidden group.

Rachel turned to look at Scarecrow Brittany, unsure of what to do.

"What do we do?" she asked in a whisper.

"I don't know," Scarecrow Brittany said softly back.

The monkey chattering stopped as the group heard them approach the house.

"Oh no they heard you," Tina Doll said.

But before anything could happen, the monkey's let out a shriek as they were seemingly attacked by fireballs.

They ran away screaming as someone on a broom was heard landing near them.

"You can come out now, it's safe," a familiar voice was heard.

"Elphaba!" Sam the Monkey said happily as he raced out, reminding Rachel of a six year old child running to their parents.

"Hi Sam, Tina, are you okay?" Elphaba was heard asking.

"Yeah I am, Rachel fixed me," Tina Doll said as she raced out.

Rachel and Scarecrow Brittany peeked out of the building.

"Hello again," Elphaba said as she held both Sam the Monkey and Tina Doll in her arms, they were actually quite tiny now that Rachel looked at them better.

"Hi," Rachel said as she came out of the house.

"I'm sorry I had to scare you before, but I didn't want you to go near the wizard, he would have lied to you, guess I was too late, pity I couldn't get to Glinda,"

"Glinda betrayed us, we heard her,"

"That wasn't Glinda the Good, that was someone else,"

"Someone else?"

"Yes,"

"But how? In the Wizard of Oz there are only three witches mentioned, Glinda the Good from the North, The Wicked Witch of the East, who um, I'm sorry, and you, the Witch from the West, it had to be Glinda,"

"I find it funny that you heard no mention of the Witch from the South, I mean, you have the North, the West and the East, why not the South?

"I don't know,"

"Anyway, the Witch from the South, her name is Mombi,"

"No way,"

"Yes, do you know of her?"

"Yes, from the books, but this world is so different from what I've read and seen in the movie that I just don't know anymore,"

"Sometimes things that are written down or adapted to a production are not what really is, it's how history is portrayed sometimes, those who want people to see it a certain way will make sure it's written a certain way,"

"I guess,"

"With regards to Mombi; she is a shifter, and a powerful sorceress, her abilities are the ability to change to whoever she likes but that doesn't last for too long so she never stays long for chit chat, and the ability to control nature, she and Morrible are good friends apparently,"

"Does anyone know what she looks like?"

"I do, she's normally an aged crone, listen I'll explain more but let's get out of here, I'll take you lot to Kiamo Ko with me,"

"Okay,"

"Rach are you really going to trust her? What if she hurts you?" Scarecrow Brittany asked.

"Then I'll have to take a risk," Rachel answered as she hopped onto Elphaba's broom.

The trip to Kiamo Ko was quite lovely actually; Rachel got to see a better lay out of what Oz actually looked like.

When they arrived, Elphaba took the small group to the dining room so that Rachel and Sam the Monkey could eat and Scarecrow Brittany and Tina Doll could rest up a bit.

Rachel eventually looked at her and asked, "So, you're sure that the Glinda we saw was Mombi?"

"Yes, The Wicked Witch of the South, the real reason why I have a bad name; she's shifted into me a couple of times, I think she tried to fool Glinda once but for some reason it didn't work, I've been trying to track her but her spells hid her, so I don't know where she is,"

"If she's not the real Glinda, then where is the real one?"

"Imprisoned, I saw it in my crystal ball, I wanted to get to you as quickly as I could so I could make her tell me where Glinda was while I tried to save your group, but I was too late,"

"I'm sorry,"

"None of this is your fault, it's politics and the innocent are always caught up in the middle, Mombi has always hated Glinda because she was the reason that Mombi was over powered in the North," Elphaba explained.

"How?"

"By accident actually, Glinda just happened to cast the right spell at the right time and defeated Mombi, since then Mombi has wanted power, if she can control everything, including the Wizard, then she has it in the bag, but with good beings willing to oppose her, well, you can see what has happened, good people die,"

"I noticed, why is it that the ones who seemingly deserve life the most are those who lose it the fastest?"

"I don't know, anyway, Mombi disguises herself as Glinda the Good sometimes,"

"How do you know which Glinda is which then?"

"Well, her eyes, Glinda has soft eyes, no matter what people change on the surface the eyes can never be changed,"

"You're in love with her," Scarecrow Brittany said as Rachel started pulling at the shoes on her feet.

"No I'm not," Elphaba said flatly, "What are you doing?"

Rachel looked up at her, "I'm trying to see if being in your presence will make the shoes come off, I mean everything is starting to deviate from what I remember of The Wizard of Oz and Wicked, I thought I'd try and take the shoes off,"

"I don't think that'll work,"

"I'm still going to try, so, like Brittany stated and I'm going to ask, do you love her? Like, at all?" Rachel asked as she was still trying to pull the stupid red shoes off.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Elphaba said looking at Rachel.

"You know, Glin, WHOA," Rachel yelped as she fell backwards and onto the floor, which caused Elphaba to snigger a little as well as Scarecrow Brittany and Tina Doll to laugh; although Sam the Monkey looked worried and rushed over to see if she was okay only to jump when Rachel yelled, "STUPID GOSH DARN SHOES, WHY THE HECK WOULD GALINDA PUT THEM ON MY DARN FEET?!"

"It's not Galinda anymore, it's Glinda, the Ga is slient," Elphaba said.

"I don't care, she put these shoes on my feet and they won't come off, grr," Rachel huffed as she continued trying to pull them off.

Elphaba looked at her.

"Get them off, can you please get them off? My feet hurt and they feel stuffy, please get them off," Rachel pleaded.

Elphaba tried and found she couldn't get them off either. The spell that seemed to keep her away from them seemed to have passed.

"She must have done a spell from the Grimmirie," Elphaba said, "I told her not to try and memorize stuff she wouldn't understand,"

"But, I, that, that sucks, once a spell is done, it can't be undone," Rachel moaned.

"There will be a way, we just have to figure out what it is,"

"Before the Wizard, Mombi and Morrible send their hoards to try and kill you,"

"Precisely,"

"Why did Glinda have to tell me I needed to do the journey before any magic could happen?" Rachel asked.

"I think she lied,"

"Wait? You mean, I could have gone home, all I had to do was click my heels?"

"Probably yes,"

"Oh, well, guess you'll get your shoes back then,"

"Okay,"

Rachel nodded her head and got up and was about to click her heels three times but paused as she looked at Elphaba.

"What's wrong?" Elphaba asked

"I can't, I just, something's holding me back now, I can't," Rachel said.

"Why?"

"Among other things, I need to make sure Tin Man and Lion know that you're not a bad person, that you're actually a good person who had evil entrusted upon you,"

"Oh,"

"And I just, I need to make sure I finish this journey, I have to stay, I can't back down now, Mombi has Quinn and Santana and I have to help save them, I can't be selfish and leave now, no matter how dangerous,"

"So you'll stay for a while?"

"Yeah, I mean, if I couldn't be there when you all needed me the most, I'd never forgive myself,"

"Thank you,"

Rachel just nodded her head as she sat down and she looked up at Elphaba.

"So, do you? Love her?" Rachel asked Elphaba again.

"I love Fieryo," Elphaba said.

"Oh please, even I saw through that eventually,"

Elphaba looked at her.

"Let me ask you, where is Fieryo now?" Rachel asked.

"I don't know, gone somewhere,"

"And did you ever try and see where he is?"

"No, I have other things to do, saving the Animals for example,"

"And occasionally catching up with Glinda?"

"Well, yes, I have to,"

"Why don't you just admit your feelings about Glinda, it might make you feel better,"

Elphaba sighed before saying, "I guess, you know, I wished for a long time that Glinda would have come with me, but I knew that if she was associated with me, even as a friend, they would hurt her, I had to protect her,"

"You must really care for her," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"Of course, I've loved her since our Shiz Days,"

"Whoa, why didn't you do anything?"

"I would have, had the Wizard not turned out to be a fake and Morrible didn't frame me,"

"You could have tried to tell her, I mean, all this time,"

"Glinda was my first friend, so I wasn't sure, I mean, I do like her, love her I guess, it wasn't something I consciously thought about all the time because you know, life, and I mean, who would want me anyway?"

"I'm sure she does," Rachel said.

"How can you be sure? You don't know that," Elphaba said.

"I know, but you can try, I mean when I see you talk about her, it's different than when you talk about Fieryo, your eyes light up with this almost loving gaze,"

Elphaba just sighed, "I just don't know, a part of me is very sure about how it feels about Glinda, the other part is just a bit scared,"

"I know, I have that problem too,"

"You do?"

"Yes, there's this girl I like but she'll never like me,"

"I see, well, for now, why don't we try and figure out how to save her and your friends,"

"We will save them, I heard Mombi say that they were taking them to Zractla Castle,"

"Really? Thank you, I better go then," Elphaba said as she got up.

"No, we're coming with you, please, if you don't take us, Santana and Quinn may turn on you,"

"Good point, but you have to stay safe, okay? The moment I notice danger, I'm going to cast a spell to get you out of there,"

"Deal,"

"I can't believe I didn't think of that place first,"

"Well, people rarely see what's directly in front of them,"

"True, c'mon, let's go, we're wasting time,"

* * *

Back at Zractla Castle, Lion Quinn watched in agony as Glinda was trying hard to breath, but her breathing was starting to become shallow.

If the Lion couldn't find a way to get out of her chains, the Good Witch was as good as dead.

The Lion struggled again causing a scene and making a lot of noise.

"Stupid Lion, beat her," Mombi said as she glared back down at Lion Quinn.

The iron gate was rolled away as the flying monkey's descended to the ground with whips and began beating the poor Lion.

Lion Quinn growled and tried to roar but was muzzled so tightly that all she could do was struggle and whimper.

"You want to fight again?" Mombi teased as she descended down to the pit and stared at the Lion.

Lion Quinn had never felt fear and rage mix before as she tried to fight the chains and get away from Mombi.

The woman took out a knife.

"Perhaps I should cut out one of your pretty eyes and send it to your friend as a gift," Mombi said as she raised the knife above her head to strike with a cackle.

A strong bubble was thrown her way, collecting the knife out from her grasps and made it float away before it popped further away from the old crone.

"What?" she started then glared at Glinda who was glaring at her, "Beat her too,"

The monkey's did as told as they took the whips and began to hit Glinda.

The woman could barely move from the pain as she tried to breathe.

"You dare fight me, I'll kill you now," Mombi screeched as the crone took out her walking stick to summon her greater magic, "And then I will find your Elphaba and I will kill her,"

"Not if I kill you first," Elphaba was heard saying above them as she shot a fireball at Mombi.

Mombi screeched as she jumped into the air.

"Get Glinda and your friends, I'll take care of Mombi," Elphaba said as Sam the Monkey, Tina Doll, Rachel and Scarecrow Brittany jumped into the pit.

The fight was vicious, no one could get to their desired person.

The winged monkey's were starting to fight against Sam the Monkey and Tina Doll, Sam the Monkey was trying very hard to keep Tina Doll safe so she wouldn't break, and Tina Doll was trying hard to keep Sam the Monkey from getting his wings ripped off.

"You will never win Elphaba, I control the Emerald City," Mombi screamed.

"Morrible will never share her power with you," Elphaba said, "Once she's gotten what she wants, she'll destroy you, it's how she is,"

"Fool, she'd never do that, I on the other hand,"

Elphaba ducked and weaved as Mombi changed forms into Glinda.

"You wouldn't hit me, would you Elphie?" Mombi asked in Glinda's voice.

"Oh I would, you're not Glinda," Elphaba said as she swung her powers at Mombi, sending her flying into the wall.

Mombi threw a fireball at Elphaba making the green witch duck for cover.

Rachel and Scarecrow Brittany were almost at Tin Man Santana's Iron Suit before they were kicked away by some flying monkeys.

"Oh god that hurt," Rachel said as Scarecrow Brittany started running as the monkey's tried to pull her apart again, "Oh no you don't," Rachel started as she started chasing the monkey's and kicking them in return.

The monkey turned and glared at her before screeching.

Rachel screamed as she ran away with monkey's just behind her.

Lion Quinn tried again to fight against the chains so she could get to Rachel but still couldn't break free as she was left helpless.

"Quinn stop, they're making you bleed more," Rachel yelled as she kept running in circles and ducking.

A loud scream was heard as Mombi was seen falling into the pit.

Elphaba just above her.

"You hurt so many people," Elphaba said, "You have to face justice,"

"I will kill you," Mombi screeched as she flung her knife at Elphaba.

The green woman let out a pained scream as the knife pierced her shoulder.

Mombi cast a spell that sent Elphaba crashing into the ground.

"Now say goodbye to the world Elphaba Thropp, no one can save you," Mombi said as she raised her arms high to cast a spell to create lightning that would strike the green woman.

But Glinda managed to cast one final spell that distracted Mombi enough so that Elphaba could throw the knife that was now in her hand at Mombi, the knife missed its intended target.

Mombi glared at Glinda as Elphaba cast a spell to rain fire down as Mombi let out a scream.

As the old witch thought she was burning because the flames had hit her, she was surprised to see that she wasn't, she was starting to turn into stone.

"What devilry is this?" were her final words as she turned into stone before the stone shattered into a million pieces.

With that Mombi the Wicked Witch of the South was destroyed; and sadly no one would know that it was Elphaba who had defeated her, saving everyone in Oz from her tyranny.

Once the dust settled, Elphaba noticed Mombi's necklace on the ground which she stood on and broke.

As she crushed the necklace, the monkeys' that were trying to hurt everyone stopped and rubbed their heads, like they were being freed from a curse.

They stopped and looked at Elphaba who had rushed over to Glinda and started to help the woman down.

"Elphie, you have to let the little girl go and her dog, Dodo," Glinda said in pain as she collapsed into Elphaba's arms.

"Glinda, the little girl doesn't have a dog, least one called Dodo," Elphaba said as she sat down on the ground and held Glinda in her arms.

"I have no idea why I said that,"

"Because you're hurt my sweet,"

"Oh, am I?"

Elphaba let out a small laugh as she looked down sadly at her friend.

"Elphie, you have to go, the Witch Hunters, they're coming for you," Glinda said.

"They are?" Elphaba said in surprise, "You are certain?"

"Yes, Elphie, please, we have to do something, take you somewhere, I can't lose you,"

Elphaba looked at Glinda, who was now looking up at her. Her bruised face and body were even more evident now that everything was becoming clearer to see making Elphaba cry. The green woman put her hand on Glinda's cheek and stroked it tenderly, "I don't know what to do my sweet, there's nowhere else I can run to," she said to her.

"No," Glinda said softly and sadly as she leaned her head on Elphaba's chest, "There has to be somewhere,"

"I don't think there's anything I can do anymore, I have to get you to safety, I need to make sure you're well away from me,"

"No, I'm not leaving you alone,"

"You have to,"

"But I won't, I left you once, I'm not doing it again,"

"This time you don't have a choice,"

"There is always a choice,"

"Glinda, this time, if you stay with me, there is no saving you, they will kill you, I can't…."

But before she could finish that sentence, Glinda cut her off and kissed her lips.

Elphaba looked surprised but kissed her back.

"Take me with you to Kiamo Ko, please," she begged.

Elphaba didn't know what to do as Rachel and Scarecrow Brittany started freeing Tin Man Santana and waiting for her to defrost as they managed to finally free Lion Quinn. Seemed that the moment Mombi was stopped, so were the enchantments.

"Please Elphie, take me with you," Glinda begged as Lion Quinn stumbled into Rachel's arms and purred in relief and contentment.

Tin Man Santana slowly regained movement as Scarecrow Brittany hugged her tightly.

"So I have two questions," Sam the Monkey asked breaking the small silence that had taken place, "How exactly are we going to get everyone back to the castle? And what are we going to do with them?" he finished as he pointed at the flying monkeys.

* * *

**AN 2:** So, that was Chapter 10. I hope you enjoyed the twist in it.

Next chapter is on its way.  
There will probably be a bit of a small reprieve moment if you know what I mean, as in it will be the wounded recuperating etc.

Anyway, will see what happens with the story.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN:** Just to let you know there'll be **A LOT** of talking and explaining in this chapter - so it'll be sorta **long**; remember it's the same day and just the day after the rescue so the whole crew are trying to heal before anything else happens. And I figured I'd get some explaining done - some.

Also there are **sad moments** in this chapter as you find out what happened to the former prisoners AND there are also **spoilers ** from the Broadway production of Wicked. They're not necessarily in order, but I figured I'd just give you a heads up anyway.

Hope you'll enjoy Chapter 11.

* * *

**Chapter 11:**

The trip back wasn't too hard in the end.

Even though Elphaba had said to the Flying Monkey's, "Fly my pretties, fly,"

Which made Rachel laugh despite the situation, the monkey's stayed with her, unmoving, as far as they were seemingly concerned, Elphaba was their new master.

One was called Chisery; who had slowly begun to achieve the ability of speaking.

"Service to you green one," he had said to her.

Elphaba just looked stunned, "But I don't need servants,"

"Service to you,"

"But don't you remember? I'm the reason you have wings, I hurt you,"

"Still service to you,"

Elphaba sighed before saying, "Help me carry everyone back to Kiamo Ko Castle, there we can all rest,"

Carrying the Tin Man and the Scarecrow was easy, Tina Doll and Sam the Monkey were flying together, since the smaller winged monkey could fly with the China Doll in his arms.

Glinda was going to ride on Elphaba's broom; the monkey's planned to carry Rachel in a safe sling.

The hardest to get to cooperate was Lion Quinn who would just jolt in anger and fear as she backed away snarling angrily at the monkeys.

At times she would just push back on her hind legs so that she looked like she was about to pounce or hit one of them with her front paws, roaring as she did so.

In the end, it took about fifteen minutes of Rachel calming her down and saying that everything would be okay before the Lion finally let the monkey's help out and carry her properly this time; also in a sling.

When they arrived back at Kiamo Ko, everyone decided to go inside, except for Lion Quinn.

Rachel just looked at her as she entered the castle and returned with some hot water mixed with healing herbs that Elphaba had given her to treat the Lion's wounds.

"Quinn, please, talk to me," Rachel begged the Lion who was currently laying outside in the courtyard of Kiamo Ko Castle; refusing to enter the place.

But no matter what she said, the Lion refused to say anything back, she just grunted, roared or whimpered, the usual sounds a Lion would make when upset or agitated and wounded.

"Quinn if you don't start talking you're going to forget how to and be lost forever," Rachel said as she approached the Lion.

Lion Quinn just moved away a bit.

"At least let me tend to your wounds," Rachel said as she got up to try and tend to the Lion, but whenever she tried to clean any wound on the Lion's body, the Lion would flinch as if she had gotten startled and snarled angrily as she tried to get away before cowering in a corner.

"Quinn!" Rachel said exasperated as the Lion jolted backwards onto her hind legs and moved quickly away from the brunette.

"Give her time," Elphaba said as she stood behind Rachel and placed a hand on the smaller brunette's shoulder, "I think she's just trying to recover from the trauma of being imprisoned by Mombi, that woman knew how to play with your mind, we don't know what she has said to Quinn while we were on our way to rescue everyone,"

"I guess, but I want to help,"

"Sometimes you have to give people the space they feel they need, rush them and you'll just push them further away,"

Rachel sighed as she looked at the Lion who was now letting out small growls and roars.

"Let's just give her some time and space, she knows where to come in when she's ready," Elphaba said as Rachel nodded her head.

"How's Glinda?" Rachel asked.

"Healing, she's banged up pretty bad, Mombi did a number on her, when she's okay again I'll have to ask what happened,"

"And Santana?"

"She's fine, Brittany's looking after her,"

"Okay,"

"C'mon, let's go inside,"

Rachel sighed again as she looked at Lion Quinn who was now looking back at her.

As Elphaba began leading Rachel away, the Lion began to react again as she started racing after the two snarling angrily.

Elphaba had to put up a force field to stop the Lion from pouncing on her.

"Wow, she's mad," Rachel said.

"Thank you Captain Obvious," Elphaba said.

"Well she is, I wonder why?"

"Because I have you and she wants to protect you,"

"Quinn I'm okay, really,"

But the Lion wouldn't listen as she tried to attack the force field over and over again, only to be pushed back, snarling angrily each time she couldn't get to Rachel.

"Quinn, Stop It," Rachel said sternly as the Lion looked a bit hurt as she whimpered and edged closer to the force field that was keeping her away from Rachel.

"If you promise not to pounce on me, I will lower the field," Elphaba said as Lion Quinn nodded her head.

So Elphaba lowered the shield as the Lion raced forward and pushed up onto her hind legs so that she could softly pounce at Rachel and pull her into a hug with her front legs.

Unfortunately for Rachel, soft for Lion Quinn was not quite soft for her, factor in the fact that the Lion was incredibly large compared to the tiny brunette, well, the moment the Lion 'hugged' her, the brunette felt her knees buckle under her and she fell to the ground, Lion Quinn's chest in her face.

"Oof, Qwinm?!" she muttered through the Lion's fur.

Resisting the urge to lick Rachel's forehead, Lion Quinn settled for nuzzling Rachel's face with hers, letting out small contented rumbles that Rachel realised were her way of purring.

Rachel reached up and started stroking the Lion's mane.

"Looks like the Furball is happy to see you," Tin Man Santana said as she clanked out of the castle with Scarecrow Brittany in tow.

"What are you doing on the ground Rachel? Did Quinn try to have sweet kitty kisses with you?" Scarecrow Brittany asked.

"I have no idea what she was trying to do, but she did pounce on me and I collapsed under her," Rachel answered.

"Wanky," Tin Man Santana said.

"Not like that,"

"C'mon you lot, let's go inside, we should rest and eat," Elphaba said.

Rachel looked up at the green woman before she managed to shimmy out from under the Lion.

Lion Quinn didn't like that as she stood nearer to Rachel while glaring at Elphaba.

"I don't think she likes you very much," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Elphaba said as she walked into the castle.

As the four joined Sam the Monkey, who jumped into Rachel's arms the moment the brunette walked in; as well joining Tina Doll who seemed to take a liking to conversing with Scarecrow Brittany;  
the six began to converse amongst themselves and those that had to eat started to eat the food that was there.

The larger flying monkeys were also in the room, but at the other end of it; and enjoying the freedom of working for the green witch as they played together, ate bananas or slept.

Chisery was in charge of them.

Elphaba smiled as she looked at the scene before her, it was rather adorable. After a quick moment, she decided that she'd take her leave to go and see Glinda who was resting in her room in the top tower.

She slowly eased the door open to look inside, Glinda was awake, but only just.

"Hello my sweet," Elphaba said as she entered the room and sat down on the bed next to the blonde.

"I knew you'd come for me," Glinda said as she took Elphaba's hand in hers, "Pink still looks good with green,"

"Of course I would, and yes, I agree, pink still looks good with green,"

Glinda smiled as she grasped Elphaba's fingers tighter.

"What happened, my sweet?" Elphaba asked.

"After I talked to you about going to find out what was going on, I went back to the Emerald City, and Morrible was there with Mombi, they tricked me, at first I thought you were there, but then I saw her eyes, her eyes were what gave her away; I panicked a bit and demanded to know what was going on, to know what had happened, they both laughed at me before Morrible accused me of getting what I wanted by having Rachel brought here from god knows where and killing Nessa, I'm so sorry,"

"Hey, it's not your fault,"

"It is, I was the one who told Morrible and the Wizard a while ago, that if she wanted you to come to her, she'd just have to spread a rumour about Nessa being hurt, I didn't think she'd actually do anything,"

"Morrible is who she is, she knew I wouldn't fall for any trick or rumour,"

"Elphie I'm still so sorry,"

"Me too," Elphaba said sadly as she thought of her sister before looking at Glinda and urging her to carry on with the tale of what happened to her, "So what happened next?"

"I don't remember too much, Mombi hit me with a spell and as I was fading out I heard her mention Ozma,"

"Ozma? You mean the rightful ruler of Oz?"

"Yes, but she mentioned something about Ozma being cursed, as who or what I don't know, but I know that she seemed pleased as was Morrible,"

"Glinda, once we face down Morrible, we have to find Ozma, only then will Oz have peace again, or at least the balance in Oz will return, I'm sure of it,"

Glinda just smiled as she tugged on Elphaba's hand, indicating that she wanted the green woman to lie next to her.

Elphaba put her hat down on the chair next to the bed as she lay next to Glinda and held her, "Sleep my sweet, heal, and tomorrow we can talk more,"

Glinda just nodded her head as Elphaba kissed her forehead before the two eventually dozed off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, everyone was seated in the dining room, Elphaba had managed to cook up some food.

Tin Man Santana looked at the meal and wrinkled her tin nose, "Okay, what is this? Not that I care because I don't eat," she said.

"It's vegetables," Elphaba said.

"Elphie's a Vegan," Glinda said.

"Really? Me too," Rachel said in surprise.

Lion Quinn just wrinkled her nose at the meal and sulked away.

"Did you really think I'd forget about you?" Elphaba said as she brought out a dish that had a lot of meat on it.

Lion Quinn raised her head as she looked in the direction of the table and bounded over to it.

"Quinn you should eat at the table with us," Rachel said as the Lion ignored her as she tried to take the plate in her teeth only to fail.

The Lion roared and grumbled before she opened her mouth wide to take as much of the meat as possible before skulking to the corner and ignoring everyone else.

"What's wrong with her? Why is she acting like this? Why isn't she talking?" Scarecrow Brittany asked in surprise and worry.

"Poor thing," Glinda sighed.

"I heard it all too," Tin Man Santana said.

"What?" Rachel asked.

"While we were captured, they put us in a pit, I was in that iron suit right in front of her so I could see and hear everything, they electroshocked her into obedience, beat her when she tried to fight back, they teased her, called her a dumb animal over and over again, whenever she would fight, the chains would tighten so much she would bleed, Mombi would taunt her now and then with the memory of her family and how she wasn't even a real Lion because she was just a coward behind a mask; worse was when she mentioned you, she would turn to stone as Mombi took your form,"

"She took my form? What did she do?"

"Screamed as if you were dying and Quinn was too helpless to try and help you, she fought hard but Mombi would just say things like 'You're too weak to help me Quinn, why can't you help me? What is wrong with you? Don't you feel anything anymore? Don't you want to help me? Help me,' Things like that, spooked her bad,"

"Oh my god,"

"Yeah,"

"Mombi was known for that, take your fears and enhance it, it's what she does," Glinda said, "It's how she has power over people,"

"Hmmm, and with fears like what Quinn has, well, I'm afraid it may take a while before she opens up again," Elphaba said.

"Why?" Rachel asked.

"Because for some, when they're hurt so bad they retreat into a shell, they protect themselves by any means possible, Quinn, I noticed, is very good at doing that, and now she has even more reason to believe the lies Mombi has told her because she already believed them in the first place,"

"And what belief is that?"

"That she's nothing more than a dumb animal, too stupid to talk or feel or think, have that repeated enough to you and you'll actually start believing it,"

"But she's not, she's better than she or anyone thinks,"

"I know, and we'll have to show her that, but for now, let's all of us eat,"

As almost everyone started to eat, Lion Quinn had already finished as she walked over to Rachel and lay next to her as she placed her heavy head on the brunette's lap.

Rachel subconsciously started to stroke the Lion's head and mane.

"So, Glinda tells me that Ozma has been cursed, once we find her we can save Oz," Elphaba said making conversation again.

"Ozma?" Scarecrow Brittany asked.

"The rightful ruler of Oz, she's a young heir who was to become the ruler of the land, to govern it in peace, but she disappeared a few years ago, we don't know where,"

"Oh,"

"Mombi made sure that Ozma disappeared before anyone would know about her, it's how things are now in the Emerald City," Glinda said, "People follow too blindly without looking at the facts, for example, the Wizard is actually missing, he's nowhere in the Emerald City,"

"You are certain of this?" Elphaba asked.

"Yes, I don't know where he is, but Elphie, I,"

"Yes my sweet?"

"I, I did learn something about him, something that I'm certain Morrible and Mombi did not know and I,"

"My sweet, whatever it is, you can tell me,"

"He's your father,"

"My what?"

"Your father, I'm sure of it, remember that green bottle you kept that you said was from your mother?"

"Yes,"

"And do you remember how you said that no one else in Oz has it?"

"Yes,"

"He has a bottle exactly like yours,"

Elphaba looked stunned as she quietly sat down.

"Elphie?" Glinda started but Elphaba raised her hand to stop the woman.

"No, let me process that, for now, tell us more about the city,"

"Morrible is running everything behind the scenes, she uses Figgins as the 'stand-in' Wizard because he's too afraid to check the facts and he's too afraid of her, I also know that Mombi and her used their powers to make the Haunted Forest grow more and attack the villages that dared stand against them while helping you,"

"I see,"

"Yes, before I was finally captured, I heard them talk about curses, as you know, one on Ozma, and there was talk about the curses on you two as well," Glinda said as she looked at Tin Man Santana and Scarecrow Brittany, "I know you two thought it was me who cursed you, but I swear it on my life, it was not me, the only person affected by me is Rachel,"

Rachel huffed as she folded her arms while glaring a bit at Glinda; whereas Tin Man Santana looked at the woman and asked, "So, what do you mean?"

"For you to be human again, you need to display an act of love and it has to be selfless, only then will you be human again, as for you Brittany, I don't know why Mombi hated you so much, but your human heart is still there, it's small, tiny, and if it ever got crushed you'd die,"

"We know that," Tin Man Santana said, "When Mombi was disguised as you, she told the monkey's to crush Brittany's heart, I just don't understand it, if she didn't like Brittany or me so much, why not just kill us? That would have made life easier for her,"

"That may be true, but when someone is on the verge of what they feel is true power, they get cocky, they think they're untouchable and invincible, they don't think things through and just do whatever it is they want, damn the consequences, I don't know why Mombi really cursed you but I know she did it for a reason,"

"I was heartless and I killed someone, she told me that I didn't deserve to be human anymore and since I acted like I had no heart I should just become the Tin Man I oughta be, hollow and empty and feeling nothing, I was so sure it was you, it sounds like something you'd say,"

"That is true, perhaps she was trying spread discourse, and just so you know, I'd never curse someone like that unless I had no other choice,"

"I had to do that," Elphaba said quietly as everyone looked at her, "Nessa did a spell from the grimmerie and shrunk Boq's heart, I had to turn him into a Tin Man too, but for him there is no escape from his fate,"

"Oh," Glinda said as she took Elphaba's hand in hers and gave the woman a reassuring squeeze.

"What if it's because you were married to Dani and she thought you still were?" Rachel asked after that moment.

"What do you mean Munchkin?" Tin Man Santana asked.

"Well, think about it, if she knew that you were married to Dani, or that Dani still meant something to you, what's a way that would hurt more than losing you to death? It's to know that you're alive but you can never feel her again, to know that you can never be with her or near her because you are forever a Tin Man and her family would have cast you away, you're no longer 'human',"

"I was divorced by that stage,"

"But what if Mombi didn't know that?"

"I suppose, I guess we'll never know now,"

"Or what if it's because you refused to follow her?" Sam the Monkey suggested as Tin Man Santana looked at him.

"Explain," she said.

"Well, I told you before that the Tin Men had weird things at the base of their necks as if something was controlling them,"

"Yes,"

"Did you ever resist that?"

"Well yeah, I wasn't putting anything at the base of my neck, damn what people say about it supposedly making me stronger and faster as well as almost invincible, I didn't trust whatever the hell that thing was,"

"So perhaps it was because you refused to fall in line,"

"Perhaps, or perhaps it was a mixture of all the things we mentioned,"

Everyone was quiet again as they ate before Scarecrow Brittany broke the silence, "What about me though? I don't remember much about my life, just that people thought I had no brain and I wanted more," she said.

"I don't know," Glinda answered.

"So, if Santana has a way to become human again, what about me?"

"Yours is tricky, from what I gathered as I heard them talking, even though what you sought was a brain, that's not what will make you human again,"

"Then what will?"

"Using your brain to remember who you are,"

"How will I do that?"

"I'm very sorry, but I do not know, do you remember anything?"

"Not very,"

Everyone looked sadly at the Scarecrow as the Tin Man patted her back.

"Glinda, how long before they captured you? You seem to have managed to get a lot of information," Elphaba said as everyone else were also curious and wanted to know what else had happened.

"I know, I was hidden for a bit, I think Mombi knew I was there because when I was found; I tried to pretend I was just walking in by the way; she was already disguised as you, I guess they didn't care that I heard those things because they figured I'd die before anyone found out," Glinda answered with a shrug.

Elphaba just nodded her head.

"Oh snap," Rachel said as she shocked everyone.

"What?" Elphaba asked, wondering why the small brunette yelped all of a sudden.

"Elphaba, the Witch Hunters, what are we going to do about the Witch Hunters? If I remember right they're on their way to kill you,"

"Oh, right,"

"Oh no," Glinda said as she looked at Elphaba with fear in her eyes, "Elphie, what are we going to do?"

"Nothing," Elphaba answered with a shrug.

"What?"

"For now nothing, how long until they get here do you think?"

"Three, four days tops,"

"Good, then for now we'll all rest and think of what to do, you three need to heal and I'll be damned if I don't see you all get better,"

"But Elphie, your life,"

"Glinda, my life was forfeit the moment I was born, there is no point in delaying the inevitable,"

And with that everyone watched as Elphaba got up from the table and left.

Glinda felt her tears fall from her face.

She knew Elphaba was stubborn, she knew that the woman was headstrong, but she never thought that Elphaba would accept her death so quickly.

She didn't know what to do; and neither did the other occupants at the table.

It seemed that the death of the perceived Wicked Witch of the West was coming sooner than they anticipated and that fact scared them as none of them could think of anything they could do to help her. Her fate was sealed.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN:** In this chapter I hope to, sort of, answer the question of why the Witch Hunters took forever, **Thank You** to the guest who reviewed and wondered about it.  
In all honesty the Witch Hunters were just kinda there in the Broadway Production so that the reasoning as to why they took so long to actually find Elphaba isn't really mentioned. And I will be honest it escaped my gaze too...oops.  
So I hope that the answer of the Witch Hunters will be somewhat satisfactory.

Oh, and just so you know magic is spelt magick here.

Also, I figured I'd let you know more about Ozma...again **spoilers** from the book and Broadway Production that aren't necessarily in order. Read at your discretion and as always Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 12:**

After everyone was left in an uncomfortable silence, wondering what to do, they began to talk again about how to make Elphaba come to her senses and plan a means of escape. The talk upset Glinda a bit as the blonde wondered why Elphaba just didn't want to bother any more about anything. As they talked, they noticed Lion Quinn get up from the ground, it was a surprise to all there when the Lion was seen heading towards Elphaba's room in the tower, though they figured if Elphaba wasn't there the Lion would probably head up to the tallest tower where the witch kept her crystal ball and magick items.

The Lion walked up the tower stairs, hating them, as they took forever in a never-ending spiral, but she had a mission to do, so she kept at it.

First she went to Elphaba's room, but realised the woman wasn't there, though that didn't stop her from looking around the room for a moment for something she thought she might need.

The next stop was the highest most tower, the Lion peeked her head around the slightly open door and saw Elphaba there.

The green woman didn't even notice the Lion walk into the room until she let out a rumble.

"Hello Quinn, what brings you in here?" Elphaba asked as the Lion just looked at her, "Still not talking huh?"

The Lion just looked at her as she walked up to the green woman and dropped something at her feet.

It was something that Elphaba hadn't seen in a long time, a photo, how the Lion found it amongst her things in this large castle she didn't know.

The photo was of her and Glinda together at Shiz University.

"We took that the day after the Dance," she said as she looked at the picture fondly, "That was when we had so much hope and dreams, boy were we naive,"

But the Lion wasn't done, she dropped something else by Elphaba's feet. It was a pink flower, the flower that Glinda had given her as a present after the dance in the wee hours of the morning when they first became friends; as the small blonde had told Elphaba all about being popular before saying how beautiful she was and how pink looked good with green.

Lion Quinn just rumbled again as she pushed it towards Elphaba's feet.

The green woman sighed as she picked up the photo and the flower, the memories of her time in Shiz were running through her head, most of it was bad; but the good ones, well, they were good and they all involved Glinda, even the day when the blonde was attempting to practice magick and had accidentally made a sandwich blow up in Elphaba's face was a good and funny memory.

She sighed before she observed the Lion slowly waltz over to her crystal ball and put her large paw on it while looking at her, making a small sound that she couldn't quite describe.

"What am I supposed to be looking for?" Elphaba asked as Lion Quinn let out a huff as she grumbled at the witch and raised an eyebrow, "I'm not looking for Glinda,"

Lion Quinn started to get annoyed as she let out an angry and annoyed roar.

"Yell all you want, I'm not going to," Elphaba said, but the Lion stood up on to her hind legs as she grabbed the witch's hands, making her drop the items, and pressed them hard to the crystal ball, the witch knew the Lion wouldn't let her go until she did what she wanted.

Sighing, the green witch summoned an image of Glinda, who was sitting in Elphaba's bedroom holding onto her cloak and crying into it.

"It'll be okay Glinda, we'll think of something," Scarecrow Brittany said as Rachel patted the blonde's back in comfort.

"I know that Elphie has not had an easy life, hell, I was part of the reason everyone laughed at her back at Shiz, but that was a while ago, doesn't she know what she means to me?" Glinda sobbed into the cloak.

"I'm sure she does," Rachel said softly.

"But she acts like she doesn't,"

"I know,"

"I love her, why can't she see that?"

"I don't know,"

Elphaba just looked into the ball, Glinda actually said it, she loved her, she really did. Lion Quinn let go of Elphaba's hands, satisfied that what needed to be seen was seen as she sat down and looked at the witch.

"She loves me," Elphaba whispered, stunned, yet not so.

Lion Quinn moved up to the witch and started shoving her towards the door with her nose.

"Hey, stop it," Elphaba said as the Lion kept pushing her, "Stop pushing me,"

"No," Lion Quinn said as Elphaba looked stunned and turned her head to look at the Lion.

"You talked,"

"I did, now go,"

"I'm not moving,"

"Don't make me bite you,"

Elphaba grumbled a bit as she went down the stairs of the highest tower and down a level to the next tower.

Lion Quinn was just behind her, making sure she was going to see Glinda.

When they arrived at Elphaba's bedroom door, she knocked on it, "Hello?" the green woman said cautiously as she opened the door and peeked in.

"Hi Elphie," Glinda said as she looked up, her eyes red from the tears.

"I'm sorry I made you cry my sweet," Elphaba said as Rachel moved away from the bed so that the green woman could sit down next to the blonde.

"It's okay,"

"No it's not,"

Glinda just sniffed as she pulled Elphaba close to her so that the two were in a tight embrace and sitting on the bed.

Lion Quinn went up to Rachel and nudged her leg with her head.

"Hi Quinn," Rachel said as she let her hand run through the Lion's thick mane as she sat on the floor and the Lion lay next to her so she could place her head on the brunette's lap.

"What are we going to do?" Glinda asked.

"I don't know," Elphaba said.

"Question," Tin Man Santana started.

"Yes?"

"Why are the Witch Hunters after you now?"

"I'm assuming Morrible knows now that Mombi is dead, so she's probably increasing the searches because she wants me out of the way, I'm the only one who can match her power, apparently, but what I want to know is how you knew about the Witch Hunters Rachel,"

"Oh, in the world where I'm from, we hear about your story and the uh, witch hunters and guards are here when Dorothy, or I guess it's me now, when I'm here with these three and you, um, die," Rachel answered in a slight stammer.

"NO!" Glinda almost screamed as Elphaba held her tight.

"I'm sorry,"

"It's okay," Elphaba said, "So if what you think is true and the Witch Hunters are probably approaching soon; I'll go check my crystal ball later; I should have known that they'd find me eventually,"

"You know about them coming for you?" Glinda asked in surprise cutting the green witch's sentence short.

"Of course, I hear things, the Animals help me slip away sometimes, and other times it was the villages, like Beatlesville; I just didn't think they'd actually catch up with me this time,"

"Elphie?!"

"I suppose I should be prepared for a fight then?"

"I guess yes," Rachel said.

"I just wonder why they're taking so long to get to you and why not use the Tin Men Force?" Tin Man Santana said.

"They've been after me for a while, they just could never figure out where I was all the time, I mean most of them are peasants who are just angry without knowledgeable cause and they've been trying to avoid the Haunted Forest, as for the Tin Men, why waste valuable resources I guess, they're good soldiers,"

"True, and the Witch Hunters are all peasants? Isn't that dangerous for them, I mean you're supposed to be this witch with scary powers,"

"Yeah I guess, but there is power in numbers, if you want to be a united front, unite the ones who are desperate for answers and for solutions, you go to the ones who desire the most outcome and spew something that will get their interests, make them promises that you don't plan to keep, politicians do it all the time, you cause a distraction by doing this and divert them from the real issues; just give them a common enemy and they will unite all they have under you, so who do you think the Wizard blamed for the drought and all the bad things happening in this land?"

"You?" Rachel said.

"Yes, me, and with Mombi flying around causing distress as me, well, it's not helpful, or wasn't helpful,"

"So, how do you think they figured out that you're here? And what happened to the Green Guards?"

"Green guards?"

"Well, in the Wizard of Oz, your character had guards who were also green, they were like your slaves,"

"I don't have such guards here, let alone ones that are green,"

"Oh, okay, so, how do they know you're here?"

"Kiamo Ko is one of the last places people wanted to look, especially since it had a reputation for being a bright and sunny place that belonged to Fiyero and his family, besides process of elimination, I guess they started out where I was first seen, Shiz University and most of them moved on since then to the Emerald City, then to the Upper Uplands before settling for this general area, I frequent this place quite a bit and beings talk, so I guess that's how they figured out that I was probably here most of the time; as for the 'hunters'; it's only about a group of twenty, from what I gathered anyway, they're all talk but they don't have what it takes to hunt down anything or anyone,"

"I see, well, I guess this is more like the Wicked World since it's the peasants who are probably lead by Boq and Brr,"

"Oh dear," Glinda said as she clutched Elphaba's waist tighter, "Please tell me that Elphie somehow escapes,"

"Well, in the Wicked World, and in the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy throws water on Elphaba, she melts, and disappears with Fieryo, that, or she dies," Rachel said.

"You can't be serious, throw water on Elphie and kill her?" Glinda said in alarm and annoyance.

"But I don't think she's…"

"We are not throwing water on Elphie," Glinda said cutting Rachel off.

"We may not have a choice my Sweet," Elphaba said.

"Well, how about we change the myth, I mean, who wouldn't believe Glinda the Good?" Rachel suggested suddenly getting an idea.

"Explain," Elphaba said.

"In my World, people in Oz are told that pure water melts you because your soul is so 'unclean'," Rachel started.

"I'm not allergic to water, that's just, strange,"

"You're not allergic? I thought you were?" Glinda said in surprise.

Elphaba just looked at her with an eyebrow raised, "Really?"

"Well, I, I haven't seen you in so long and I just, you know, forget things sometimes,"

"You've seen me shower, and I know you were staring at me,"

Rachel balled in laughter, as did Tin Man Santana as Glinda turned red.

"That was one time, it was an accident," Glinda said as she tried to brush off the incident.

"You totally loved seeing the Green Woman in the buff," Tin Man Santana said.

Glinda just mumbled something, but the group could sort of make out the words, 'stupid', 'hot body', 'rust her for good, tin idiot'.

"In the book you're allergic to water and in the Movie 'The Wizard of Oz' you are too, the Broadway, you're not, anyway, main point, how about we get me to throw water at you after you attempt to set Brittany on fire," Rachel said.

"You're not setting my girl on fire," Tin Man Santana said angrily.

"Not for real, I'm sure Elphaba or Glinda know of a safe spell, anyway, let me finish, we let the water hit Elphaba, she pretends to melt, or disappear or something, she reappears, and Glinda can declare that the water melted away all the evil in her, and while her skin will always be green, she is now a good Witch who will have no memory of her past life, and that the Ozians in turn should move on,"

"That might work," Elphaba said with an impressed voice.

"It's worth a shot," Glinda said, "Anything to have my Elphie back,"

Elphaba blushed a bit as Glinda kissed her cheek, making the other four aww at them.

"Wait, did you just say 'aww' Quinn?" Rachel asked as she looked at the Lion.

The Lion just looked at her with a stony unreadable face.

"She said 'aww' right?" Rachel asked as she looked at the others.

Still the Lion didn't say anything as she looked at Rachel and leaned her head further against the brunette.

"Sigh," Rachel said as her arms circled around Lion Quinn's neck.

"Hey Rachie, I just realised," Scarecrow Brittany started.

"Yes,"

"Once we help Elphaba, you can go home,"

"Well, not really, we still have to find Ozma and we have to defeat Morrible, I don't plan on leaving until then,"

"NO!" Lion Quinn said loudly as she wrapped her front paws around Rachel's waist.

"Oh my god," Rachel said in surprise, surprise that Lion Quinn actually said something, okay one word, that's still something.

Surprise that the Lion was so loud, and surprise as the Lion held her tighter than she thought possible.

The Lion let out a small cry, "No," she said again.

"Oh Quinn, you'll have to face the fact that I have to go home sometime," Rachel said as she softly patted the Lion's head.

The Lion lifted up her head and looked at the brunette sadly as Rachel stroked her mane.

Not thinking of the consequences of her actions, Rachel softly kissed the tip of the Lion's nose, "I'm very sorry Quinn," she said as the Lion leaned into her again letting out sad grumbles.

"Hey Munchkin," Tin Man Santana started, breaking the silence.

"Yes?" Rachel asked.

"Do you know who Ozma is? I mean you read about our World right?"

"Yes I have, but I also said that what I'm experiencing is different from the books,"

"Okay, but maybe it's a starting point, who's Ozma?"

"Well, from what I remember Mombi turned Ozma into a boy named Tip who was made to follow her everywhere,"

"Oh, I know of Tip, he followed Mombi around as her servant, he disappeared a couple of years ago though, I don't know what happened, I think he ran away from her," Glinda said.

"Perhaps he's at the Ice Castle, that used to belong to Mombi," Elphaba added, "Maybe he figured if he hid in plain sight it would be a smart idea and safer, or more likely, she froze him,"

"Good point, so Morrible first then we find Tip and hope to Ozma that he's, um, Ozma?"

"Yes,"

Elphaba looked at Glinda with a smile, it was a smile that Scarecrow Brittany recognised very well.

"Um, we'll just get going, and we'll uh, talk about Rachel's plan later," she said as she got up and dragged Tin Man Santana with her.

"Why are we going?" Tin Man Santana asked.

"They're going to have sweet lady kisses and we shouldn't be there,"

"Oh god, wait for me," Rachel said as she got up and bolted out the door with Lion Quinn hot on her tail.

Elphaba cackled a bit as she watched the door close.

"So, it's just us," Elphaba said, "What shall we do between now and later?"

"I have an idea," Glinda said with a mischievous grin.

* * *

**AN 2:** So, there you have it, I wanted to end on a bit more of a lighter note. Next chapter is on its way.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: **Just a quick short chapter. I hope you will enjoy it...the one coming up after will be the show down with the Witch Hunters.

* * *

**Chapter 13:**

It was about fifteen minutes later, Rachel and Lion Quinn were sitting by the fire place in one of the rooms, Rachel was reading a book that she found that belonged to Elphaba, a fairy tale of all things; Lion Quinn was laying next to her groaning and moaning as if she was in agony.

Rachel looked amused as Lion Quinn had her paws over her ears and groaned in embarrassed annoyance; attempting to cover her whole head as she pushed as hard as she could against her ears; Tina Doll was asleep in the Library with a book, and the Flying Monkeys had disappeared for the time being as Sam the Monkey went with them.

No one really knew why, but Rachel was starting to suspect the reason.

She figured the poor Lion could hear exactly what Elphaba and Glinda were doing in their bedroom up in the tower.

A loud high pitched cackle and laughter proved exactly what she thought as the Lion groaned more.

"Oh Quinn, why don't we go for a walk? I noticed that there was a private beach for the castle, it's untouched by the forest," Rachel said as she patted the Lion's head.

"Yes please," Lion Quinn said as she got up.

"Should we ask Brittany and Santana to come along too?"

"You really don't want to bother them right now,"

"Why? Oh,"

"Yes, oh,"

"I'm glad you're starting to talk again Quinn,"

The Lion just gave her a smile as she rubbed her head against Rachel's leg.

A loud thump was heard as Lion Quinn said in desperation, "Can we go now?"

"Yes, let's go,"

The walk down to the beach was fine until Rachel forgot she couldn't take her shoes off.

The brunette sighed, but enjoyed the walk anyway.

Lion Quinn paused for a moment and Rachel wondered why until she saw some seagulls further off in the distance.

The Lion readied her body in a strike position as she stalked them and then started to chase them, roaring as she did.

Rachel realised she didn't want to eat them, just chase them.

Lion Quinn was having the upper hand on the chase, and she was having a lot of fun… until she got too close to a nesting area; after that the seagulls began to dive bomb her and chase her away.

The Lion yelped in surprise as Rachel keeled over in laughter at the sight.

A couple of the gulls began to peck at the Lion's head, making her roar in annoyance as she tried to paw at them while attempting to run away.

This caused the Lion to trip and tumble into the ocean, doing a short roll before landing in a sitting position, fur and mane completely drenched.

"Oh Quinn, you are quite clumsy," Rachel laughed as she went up to the Lion.

The Lion growled at herself in annoyance as she raced out of the water and began to eye Rachel with a glint of mischief on her face.

"No Quinn, stay back, I'm not allowing you to get sea water on me," Rachel said as the Lion grinned at her and started stalking her, the brunette squealed as she ran only to have the Lion pounce on her, "Quinn!"

The Lion just rubbed her head against the brunette's with a smile.

"Hey Furball, you do realise she's human and you're a beast right?" Tin Man Santana said as she and Scarecrow Brittany were seen walking up to the pair.

Lion Quinn growled at that as she glared at Tin Man Santana.

"You two are too different to work out you know," Tin Man Santana said.

"Oh please Santana, she doesn't like me like that," Rachel said as she sat up unaware of Lion Quinn's face.

"You're dense,"

"I am not,"

Lion Quinn just growled angrily as she pulled Rachel closer to her.

"Quinn, sand in unfortunate places," Rachel laughed as she ruffled the Lion's mane.

The Lion licked the side of the brunette's face.

"Ow, barbed tongue, that hurt," Rachel said as she looked at Lion Quinn.

"Sorry," Lion Quinn said, "Couldn't help it,"

"You think those two are done in the tower by now?"

"I don't want to think about it,"

"Oh, so is that why you two disappeared?" Scarecrow Brittany asked.

"That, and I kinda sorta, heard you two too,"

"Ew," Tin Man Santana said as her face took on an embarrassed look.

Rachel was sure that had the Tin Man been human, she'd be red in the face at that moment.

"It was ew, and no, I don't want to know how it works," Lion Quinn said as she stood up and Rachel did too.

* * *

When the four arrived back at the castle, Lion Quinn and Rachel were subjected to a bath, or rather, Lion Quinn was. The big cat didn't like water at all.

Rachel had already bathed, the shoes still stuck to her feet and she was feeling incredibly gross with them still on. By the time she was clean and done, and her clothes had somehow magically been cleaned and dried, the Lion still didn't hadn't bathed.

"I don't need a bath," Lion Quinn said as she plonked down in the courtyard and crossed her fore legs together.

"Quinn, you stink, you need a bath," Rachel said.

"No,"

"Yes,"

"No,"

"Quinn, do you want to be a stinky Lion?"

"I'm not a stinky Lion,"

Rachel just let out a huff.

In fact, it wasn't until fifteen minutes after their argument, and Tin Man Santana risked rusting by holding the Lion down in a tub they managed to acquire; (all because of Scarecrow Brittany's ability to pout at her); that Lion Quinn was finally made to have a bath, due to the fact that Rachel had found a hose and began spraying water at the Lion causing her to screech as the water was sprayed on her.

"You can be such a baby about things," Rachel laughed as she ran cleaning product through the Lion's fur.

The Lion groaned in annoyance at getting wet and soapy, but Rachel kept cleaning her fur.

"You'll feel better, I promise," Rachel said.

When the bath was over, Lion Quinn raced out of the tub and shook her body, trying to get dry.

Scarecrow Brittany got the oil can and began oiling the Tin Man to make sure she wouldn't rust.

Rachel on the other hand was laughing hard.

"What's so funny?" Scarecrow Brittany asked as Rachel kept laughing and pointing at Lion Quinn.

Tin Man Santana looked up and started snickering.

Due to her attempt at getting dry, Lion Quinn's mane became incredibly poofy, if that's a word; it probably isn't, but that was the only way to describe the Lion's mane at this point in time. Poofy.

You could barely see her nose sticking out from under it.

Lion Quinn could be heard huffing about that as Rachel took a towel and dried her mane.

"You are so silly sometimes Quinn," Rachel said as she patted the Lion's nose.

As she was almost done drying the Lion, the four heard Glinda and Elphaba approach them in the courtyard.

"So, what are you four up to?" Elphaba asked as she and Glinda had finally emerged from their bedroom.

"We were trying to give Quinn a bath, it took a while, but we finally gave her a bath and now we're drying her, or at least, I am," Rachel said.

"I see, well, are any of you hungry?"

"I am,"

"Please tell me you washed your hands first," Lion Quinn said as she rubbed her head against Rachel's legs before looking up at Glinda and Elphaba.

"Of course," Elphaba said, "So, Quinn, you are okay with vegetables right?"

"NO,"

"Quinn you get riled up too easily," Rachel said.

"I'm hungry, I want meat,"

"I'm sure you just want Berry," Tin Man Santana said.

"What does that mean?" Lion Quinn asked Rachel in a whisper.

"Oh like you don't know Furball," Tin Man Santana said in a yell as she disappeared from the courtyard and into the castle.

At the dinner table everyone sat down as they waited for Sam the Monkey and the other flying monkey's to return, however, Elphaba decided that perhaps it was best if he and the other monkeys were away from the castle during the show down and that Tina Doll should stay with Glinda, hidden in the shadows.

"But I can help, I want to join in," Tina Doll insisted.

"I don't want you to break, one wrong move and you could crack," Elphaba said, "I can't risk that,"

"Okay," Tina Doll said dejectedly.

"So what is the official plan?" Tin Man Santana asked.

"Well, if I looked at the ball right, the hunters will be here the day after tomorrow about lunch, I suppose we could just go with the old scheme of me wanting my sister's shoes back, I'll circle you, say things, and then Santana, Brittany and Quinn can burst in and try and rescue you, I cast some spells to make smoke circle you before setting Brittany on fire, and Brittany make sure that as you panic come towards me," Elphaba said as Scarecrow Brittany nodded her head in agreement.

"Please tell me it'll be safe, I can't have anything happening to B," Tin Man Santana said.

"It'll be safe, just act scared and worried, now Rachel, once Brittany's on fire, grab the bucket of water that I'll leave out there, throw it at Brittany but make sure it hits me, I'll pretend to melt and I don't know what we'll do from there,"

"I'll make my way back to the Emerald City," Glinda said, "And I'll take Tina Doll with me,"

"I get to go to the Emerald City?" Tina Doll said in excitement.

"Yes you do,"

"Well, I guess that we'll just walk back somehow, or get the flying monkey's to drop us off," Rachel said.

"But that could take days," Tin Man Santana pointed out.

"I'll bubble you there," Glinda said.

"Why couldn't you just have bubbled us in the first place, it would have been faster?" Rachel asked in annoyance.

"Well, journey and all that,"

Rachel raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, I didn't think about it, sorry, I had other things on my mind," Glinda said in embarrassment, "Anyway, I'll set up a town meeting at the Emerald City and announce that you're, that you're, you're,"

"Dead my sweet," Elphaba said.

"I can't,"

"Yes you can, and you must,"

"But I can't, they'll start singing about how great it is that you're dead and how no one will mourn you without realising that I will,"

"You can't cry my sweet,"

"I can't do this Elphie, I'll start crying,"

"I won't really be dead, I promise you, I will be there in the city centre, I will walk in and you do your thing, the back-up plan is, if they don't believe you, I'll fly out and go somewhere else, we'll find somewhere,"

"What if that doesn't work?" Tin Man Santana asked, "What if they think that Glinda is conspiring,"

"Then we fake fight and Glinda will have to pretend to kill me,"

"No, I can't,"

"Glinda, I know that you're scared, but we don't have much of a choice, look, they won't be here for at least another day, why don't we spend some time together, just us, like we used to, we'll make the most of it,"

"Oh no," Lion Quinn grumbled as she put her paws over her ears again and banged her head on the table.

"What's wrong with her?" Elphaba asked.

"She kinda, well, heard you two go at it," Rachel said as Elphaba actually looked like she paled and Glinda turned pink.

"Oh my," Glinda said as Scarecrow Brittany just raised an eyebrow and Tin Man Santana laughed.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: **Sorry that I haven't updated in a couple of days, but I really needed to rest - I've been neglecting sleep.  
Anyway, here's the next chapter - **Warning Character Death**. - Yeah, this chapter is kinda sad.

* * *

**Chapter 14:**

The next twenty-four hours went by faster than Glinda would have liked, sure it was filled with fun but also worry.

As the daylight started to fade into the night before the potential showdown, Glinda and Elphaba were locked away in their room.

Lion Quinn couldn't hear what was being said this time; only whispers but she knew that it was sad and heart breaking.

She looked up at Rachel who was asleep on the bed, the Lion got up from her spot on the floor, yes, she chose to sleep on the floor, and went over to the brunette and jumped on to the bed with her, letting out a small rumble as she cozied up to the small girl, nuzzling into her as she draped one front leg over the her as Rachel placed her hand on the Lion's giant paw.

Lion Quinn let out a small smile, she knew Rachel wasn't going to stay here so she was going to cherish what time she had left and be happy.

She nudged the girl softly under her chin as she had to stop herself, again, from licking the girl, remembering that her tongue was like sand paper to the brunette, and softly rubbed her head against Rachel's who sighed in her sleep.

The Lion cuddled up more to her before she too began to fall asleep.

In the room next to them were Scarecrow Brittany and Tin Man Santana, the Scarecrow was currently just dozing as the Tin Man looked down at her, letting her Tin fingers run against the straw girl's arm.

She wanted to know what it felt like to feel again, to touch, to smell. While kissing the Scarecrow would trigger memories, it just wasn't the same and she knew the straw girl felt the same way as her, neither of them could feel human.

It was at that moment she envied the Lion and the girl, because they could feel, touch and smell. The Tin Man knew that she'd never be human again, her heart wasn't incredibly selfless. But she'd be damned if she didn't at least help the Scarecrow become human again.

Breakfast the next morning was held in silence, Glinda's eyes were red and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that she had been crying.

Elphaba was just stoic.

When breakfast was done, Elphaba and Rachel went around and started to set things up, Glinda and Tina Doll went to find a proper hiding space where they could see all that would transpire.

Lion Quinn, Tin Man Santana and Scarecrow Brittany were all waiting in position to pretend that they were just bursting onto the scene when the witch hunters arrived.

They hated it, the waiting, the wondering.

Just as noon approached, they heard the witch hunters appear.

Time for the plan to get into action.

"Okay, so here's what we're gonna do," Tin Man Santana said loud enough that the witch hunters would hear her, "We will sneak into that castle, we'll save Rachel, AND, we will kill that witch, we have to,"

"Hey, are you guys after the witch too?" one hunter asked.

"Yes we are," Scarecrow Brittany said as Lion Quinn looked at them.

"Is that Lion of yours tame? Is he in league with the witch?"

"Firstly, he is a she, she just happens to have a mane, second of all, do you really think we'd be foolish enough to have someone who is league with the witch working for us?" Tin Man Santana said.

"We have to be careful, there are Animals everywhere, filthy creatures, the Wizard told us that they are part of our problem, they don't know that they should be subservient, seen and not heard,"

"Shut the heck up, you want our help or not?" Lion Quinn snapped, "Because without me, you'll never get near that witch, I guarantee it,"

The Witch Hunters all gaped as Scarecrow Brittany patted Lion Quinn's head.

The audacity of these hunters, hate what they're told to hate, no questions, no discussions, no looking at it for themselves, just blind faith - blind following that ends up damaging lives more than it ever could save.

"She's rather sensitive about such things, the Wizard sometimes has no idea how useful the Animals can be, but that's just my opinion," Scarecrow Brittany said, "Why don't you all stay behind us, we'll get the witch, we're not human like you so spells are unlikely to work on us,"

The Witch Hunters nodded their heads as they were weary of Lion Quinn, the Lion tried hard not to snap and bite at them because of their ignorance of beings like her.

Scarecrow Brittany, knowing that Lion Quinn was incredibly unhappy, patted her back in a comfort, the Lion looked up at her and stood on her hind legs so that the people could see how tall she really was.

She looked majestic, they couldn't deny that, and dangerous.

Lion Quinn just smirked at that as she kept walking on two legs before getting bored and started stalking on all fours again.

Meanwhile inside the castle, Glinda and Tina Doll hid quietly, Glinda was very nervous as she watched Rachel and Elphaba get into position.

A worrying scream nearly made it out of her mouth as she noticed something she hadn't before. Some water had spilled onto Elphaba's hand, making it steam and hiss, the poor green woman yelped in pain as Rachel tried to help her with confusion; but the green woman made her carry on with her task, they didn't have much time left.

The last minute change was that Tin Man Santana had to burst up the stairs and break the door down with her axe, they would start acting happy at saving Rachel and then Elphaba would appear cackling.

"I hope all goes well," Tina Doll said as she looked at Glinda.

"Yeah, me too," Glinda said.

"She'll be okay,"

"I hope so,"

Soon the Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man arrived, the Witch Hunters behind them.

Rachel was pretending to cry in the tower room, behind the large locked doors.

"Rachel? Rachel can you hears us?" Scarecrow Brittany cried out.

"Oh girls you found me," Rachel could be heard yelling back at them, "Please get me out, the witch has locked me in here, please help me,"

Lion Quinn roared as she 'attacked' the door, "It won't open," she said in worry and annoyance.

"I'll cut it down, after all, I have the axe," Tin Man Santana said as she began chopping the door down.

"Hurry, she said that if I don't give her the shoes by the time the timer is done, she'll kill me, help me," Rachel yelled through the door.

Finally Tin Man Santana had the door chopped down and Rachel ran out hugging Scarecrow Brittany first before Lion Quinn pulled her into a hug.

"We have to go, now," Tin Man Santana said as everyone started running down the stairs.

They managed to get down a few flight of stairs until all of a sudden, the doors closed as a cackling was heard.

"Well, well, well," Elphaba cackled as she magically just appeared, "Leaving so soon? I wouldn't hear of it, why the party is only just beginning,"

"Oh god, we're trapped like rats," Lion Quinn said in fear.

Elphaba created an optical illusion of a party of green skinned guards appear to attack the crowd.

For people who acted fierce and tough, Rachel found them to be incredibly cowardly the moment trouble appeared.

The Witch Hunters were sniveling and screaming as the green guards approached them.

"Hey, don't hurt them right away, we'll let them think about what we're going to do to them," Elphaba cackled as Scarecrow Brittany followed the plan and pretended to look up at the candle chandelier that was up on the ceiling.

Since it was held by ropes, she figured, cut it and the wheel looking thing would fall and hit the guards, so she grabbed Tin Man Santana's axe and cut the rope causing the chandelier to fall on some of the guards.

"RUN," she screamed as everyone started running in the direction that she went, leading them to the next room.

"Seize them you fools, seize them, stop them," Elphaba was heard screeching and Glinda had seen a glimpse of the woman running down the stairs broom in hand, "Seize them, seize them,"

Now Elphaba for her part felt a little silly, after all, she was the only one that was chasing them with a broom. Although she supposed she reminded people of an old woman chasing kids off her lawn. She shuddered at the thought, she wasn't that old thank you very much.

Thank god for the illusion of the guards.

The group managed to double back and return to the chandelier room before running up the stairs again, they heard Elphaba give the guards instructions to split up.

Finally she caught up with them and had them surrounded.

"Well, ring a ring a rosy a pocket full of spears, thought you could be foxy huh?" Elphaba said to them menacingly, "Well, the last to go will see the first three go before her, and then I'll destroy some of those hunters and send the others back, wounded,"

One of the witch hunters finally found some courage, but she was foolish and just waved her arms like a silly child. Elphaba easily cast a spell on her to make her sleep; that caused a few more of the witch hunters to try and attack her.

Up in her hiding spot, Glinda hid nervously as she watched Elphaba fight off the Witch Hunters, as she attempted to corner Rachel.

When she managed to disarm at least three more, the witch hunters trembled again and huddled closer together.

"Give me those shoes," Elphaba cackled.

"I, I tried, I can't," Rachel said in fear.

"Give me those shoes or all these people die,"

At that the Witch Hunters shoved Rachel forward so that she'd fall to the ground, "Take her," they cried.

"COWARDS!" Lion Quinn roared, those pitiful humans, throwing an innocent child to cover their own hides, that disgusted her. She tried to lunge forward to protect Rachel but Elphaba cast a spell to throw her backwards.

'They're all acting really well,' Glinda thought to herself.

"Q," Tin Man Santana said as she looked after her friend, "You okay?"

The Lion nodded her head.

Brittany was seen trembling a bit and Elphaba caught on to the signal. She glanced up and lit the end of her broom with the fire that was burning above them on another candle chandelier and moved it towards the scarecrow.

"What's the matter Scarecrow? Feeling cold? Is that why you're trembling? Would you like a bit of fire?" Elphaba said as she set Brittany's straw arm on fire.

"B," Santana said as she tried to fan the flames out.

"Oh my god, I'm burning, I'm burning, help me, help me," Scarecrow Brittany shrieked.

"No, don't grab that water," Elphaba started as Rachel recognised her cue.

"Here, let me help," Rachel said as she grabbed the water bucket and threw it over Brittany, hitting Elphaba in the process.

"What have you done you cursed brat? Look what you've done," Elphaba shrieked, "Water, it's, pain, oh the pain, I'm melting, I'm melting, oh what a world, what a world, who thought a beautiful girl like you could destroy my wickedness,"

Elphaba's shrieks of pain ran through Glinda's mind, scaring her, and she wished she could come out, but couldn't.

What scared her the most was that everyone could literally see the water melt Elphaba's skin away, almost like it was acid that burnt through her skin to her bone and then melted it away before their very eyes.

Elphaba kept screaming and a part of Glinda started to get scared that what she was witnessing truly was the death of her…best friend? No, lover, Elphaba was her lover. And she couldn't bear it.

Eventually Elphaba was gone and all that remained was her hat, her broom and her cloak.

"You killed her," one of the guards said.

"I, I didn't mean to, honest," Rachel said as she looked at them.

"She killed the witch," one of the hunters yelled happily as Rachel went to pick up the witch's broom.

"We should go now and tell everyone, let's go to the carriages," another yelled as Rachel, Tin Man Santana, Lion Quinn and Scarecrow Brittany were seen being hoisted into the air and carried away.

As the crowd disappeared from view, the green guards slowly disappeared into a mist and were gone.

Glinda came down from her perch once she was sure everyone had left and ran to Elphaba's spot.

"Elphie?" she said sadly as she burst into tears and reached around the woman's cloak, taking the hat away.

Something wasn't right...where was the trap door? Where was it? How could Elphaba just disappear if there was no trap door?

Chisery came up to her and gave her the green bottle that had once belonged to Elphaba.

"Miss Glinda," he said as he gave it to her.

This was real, it was all too real.

"Elphie where are you?" Glinda asked as Tina Doll looked around too.

"I don't think she's here," Tina Doll said sadly.

"Where is she? Where's Elphie? This was not part of the plan she was supposed to come back, where is she?"

Chisery looked at her.

"Chisery, she wasn't really allergic to water was she?" Glinda asked through tears.

But the winged monkey didn't say anything and it was the silence that seemed to answer her question.

"Chisery, please, where is Elphaba? Where's the trap door? Where is it?" Glinda asked again but the Monkey flew away.

Sadly Glinda had no choice but to go, a celebration was coming throughout Oz and she had to be there to confirm people's suspicions.

The Wicked Witch of the West is dead.

And a part of Glinda wondered if this was her plan all along.

She sobbed in her bubble all the way to the Emerald City, Tina Doll there to comfort her to the best of her abilities.

But nothing worked. Glinda just could not stop crying.

* * *

**AN 2:** Yes, I'm mean and horrible and ending the chapter there, next chapter isn't too far away.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN:** So, there are song lyrics in this chapter and that probably contributes as to why this chapter is a bit longer than I expected.

Anyway, I hope you will enjoy Chapter 15.

* * *

**Chapter 15:**

It was the first thing the citizens of the Emerald City heard when they woke up that morning after Elphaba's demise.

The joyous singing of the Witch Hunters as they entered the city.

_Good news!_

_She's dead!_

_The Witch of the West is dead!_

_The wickedest witch there ever was_

_The enemy of all of us here in Oz_

_Is Dead!_

_Good news!_

_Good news!_

Everyone raced out of their homes as they came to see the four new heroes of Oz being brought in by carriage and surround by the joyful witch hunters praising them.

They all started singing the song lyrics again and again as everyone was happy. Blissfully unaware that the four did not share their joy.

_Good news!_

_She's dead!_

_The Witch of the West is dead!_

_The wickedest witch there ever was_

_The enemy of all of us here in Oz_

_Is Dead!_

_Good news!_

_Good news!_

Soon someone in the crowd looked up and yelled out happily, "Look! It's Glinda!"

Glinda put on a fake smile as she bubbled Tina Doll down to the four and started her part by saying, "Fellow Ozians," then she started to sing too;

_Let us be glad_

_Let us be grateful_

_Let us rejoicify that goodness could subdue_

_The wicked workings of you-know-who_

_Isn't it nice to know_

_That good will conquer evil?_

_The truth we all believe'll by and by_

_Outlive a lie_

_For you and -_

But before she could finish that sentence, someone else interrupted her, their words almost made her cry, the four who weren't joining in could see that as they cringed at the lyrics.

_No one mourns the Wicked_

As another person joined them and added:

_No one cries "They won't return!"_

As everyone then added the words:

_No one lays a lily on their grave_

Rachel didn't like that line now that she had met Elphaba, in fact, even when watching Wicked on Broadway, once she knew what the lyrics meant, she didn't like them. Sure it was a great song, but it was horrible and one couldn't help but feel bad for the green witch after all the pain she went through in her sad life.

She was in all sense as she described herself, beautifully tragic.

And Rachel knew that there was at least one person who would mourn and lay a lily on Elphaba's grave, Glinda definitely would.

She looked over at Lion Quinn who glanced back up at her with a solemn face.

"Quinn, I'm worried," she whispered as a man sang the words:

_The good man scorns the Wicked!_

Followed by a woman singing:

_Through their lives, our children learn_

"About what?" Lion Quinn asked back in a whisper.

"I think Elphaba really was allergic to water and she lied to us, she hasn't shown up," Rachel said.

"Maybe she's waiting for the right moment,"

"Glinda's been crying, anyone who really cared to look can see it on her face, I don't know, something weird happened, I saw water burn her skin as we set up, Quinn, what if she's really gone?"

"She wasn't there after you left, we searched for her," Tina Doll whispered as she sat on Rachel's shoulder, "I'm worried too, Glinda cried the whole way here,"

The Lion didn't know what to say as she looked up and agreed with Rachel quietly about Glinda; as she leaned against the brunette's leg. She had to admit it, the green woman was growing on her and now she was sad that the woman was seemingly gone.

The four listened as everyone else sang:

_What we miss, when we misbehave_

Glinda, deciding it was time to re-enter the song again sang out words that she knew were true even if Elphaba wasn't truly wicked, everyone still hated her, well, almost everyone, they treated her like a wicked person without realising that she had wickedness entrusted upon her.

The words she sang nearly made her cry again.

_And Goodness knows_

_The Wicked's lives are lonely_

_Goodness knows_

_The Wicked die alone_

_It just shows when you're Wicked_

_You're left only_

_On your own_

Everyone soon joined in and sang with her.

_Yes, Goodness knows_

_The Wicked's lives are lonely_

_Goodness knows_

_The Wicked cry alone_

_Nothing grows for the Wicked_

_They reap only_

_What they sow_

"Fellow Ozians, Rachel of Lima has defeated the Wicked Witch of the West by melting her," Glinda said with a sense of pride, and yet, Rachel could hear the sadness in it.

"So it's true then Miss Glinda," one Ozian said, "About the Wicked Witch?"

"Yes, the Wicked Witch of the West is dead,"

Everyone started cheering and yelling happily as they danced together while singing,

_"No one mourns the Wicked!_  
_Now at last, she's dead and gone! _  
_ Now at last, there's joy throughout the land _  
_ And Goodness knows _  
_ We know what Goodness is _  
_ Goodness knows_  
_ The Wicked die alone"_

"_She died alone,_" Glinda sang before saying, "We no longer have anything to fear any more, and now, we shall let the four go see the Wizard so that they can go and get their rewards,"

She wanted to try and make the moment move as quickly as she could; this hurt too much.

Everyone cheered as the four made their way into the castle.

"I can come too?" Tina Doll asked.

"Yes," Rachel said as she turned her head and looked at the girl.

"Maybe whoever has real power behind the Wizard can make me human,"

"What's wrong with being a china doll?"

"I'm all alone, there's no one around anymore, just me,"

"Oh Tina, I'm sure you'll be okay, besides you're fine just the way you are,"

"You think?"

"I'm sure,"

The china doll smiled as she hugged Rachel around the neck.

"So what are we going to do?" Tin Man Santana asked, "We know that the Wizard is a fake,"

"Don't know, maybe you'll still get what you wanted," Rachel said.

As they entered the room, they saw Glinda standing in the upper corner, waiting for something to transpire; but hidden from view to anyone who wasn't really looking.

The Throne Room was empty and Rachel wondered why.

"Hello there," a woman's voice said.

"Coach Sue?" Rachel stuttered out as the older woman looked at her.

"I'm Madam Morrible, and I'm here to give you the gifts that the Wizard said to give you," she said.

"Oh my god," Rachel nearly laughed.

"We want to know where the real Wizard is," Tin Man Santana said.

"Oh he's indisposed at the moment, but he sends his regards," Morrible said to them, "Now, Lion, you wished for courage, you stood against the witch and displayed admirable courage, you are given this Medal of Honour to show all that you are incredibly brave and courageous,"

Lion Quinn just smiled, though it was forced as she accepted the medal. Something about this woman was off and she didn't like it.

"To you Tin Man, a heart, and it's ticking, because you chose to go and save others besides yourself, showing that you do have a heart after all," she said as she gave the Tin Man a red heart shaped clock that was ticking.

Tin Man Santana just nodded her head at that.

"And to you Scarecrow, a diploma to show that you have brains, for your clever thinking helped with dispatching that witch," Morrible said as she gave Scarecrow Brittany her diploma, "And as for you child, there will be a hot air balloon that will fly you back home,"

"Thank you, may I stick around a few days, you know, before I say goodbye?" Rachel asked, seeing the look on the others faces, they knew the gifts were tacky, how could one really prove courage with a badge? True heart with a clock? And true brains with a piece of paper?  
It just didn't make sense as to how anyone could accept this.

"Of course, now hop along," Madam Morrible said as she waved a hand and dismissed the five.

Rachel nodded her head and turned in time to see the guards appear as a clicking sound was heard, "What the?" she started.

"Oh did you really think I'd be letting you go?" Morrible sneered, "I only played nice for the audio video projector that was rolling, now that it's off, I can arrest you all for conspiring with the green witch,"

"The only reason she's bad is because you were in league with Mombi to enslave Oz, you gave her a bad name and lied to everyone," Rachel shot back.

"Of course I did, the people of Oz are stupid and are sheep, following what they want because it's convenient, no thought required,"

"Where is the Wizard?"

"Dead of course, Mombi and I killed him, he was a useless old fool, we used him for his charisma, nothing else, he was completely useless, able to trick Ozians with his empty words of hope and change when all he cared about was the gold he could acquire from their pockets,"

"But, you, Elphaba was innocent, why…"

"Of course she was innocent, but people needed a scapegoat, we framed the Animals first, gave people a common enemy, but when she stepped in we knew she was a threat so we made her the enemy too, framing her was all too easy, everyone was already scared of her, and of course, who wouldn't believe the Wonderful Wizard of Oz and his press secretary?"

"You killed innocent people, you hurt so many and destroyed their homes, their lives,"

"Because they refused to follow my orders, they deserved to die,"

"How'd you know of what we all did at that castle anyway?"

"Crystal ball, how else?"

"You're a murderer and you won't get away with this,"

"Oh but I have, Oz will bow before me when I present their champions as liars, and conspirators to those in Oz,"

"I killed the Witch of the West, she's gone because of you,"

"Because you were selfish and wanted to get home, you, who are so willing to step over anyone in your way, but no matter, since the Lion wishes for you to stay, she will forever have you now because you will all be locked up in a dungeon, and you, Lion, remember this, you're a stupid dumb animal that should be seen NOT heard,"

Morrible casted a spell that sent Lion Quinn flying into a wall, knocking her out, as a sickening crunch was heard on her back.

Rachel screamed as Tina Doll covered her ears.

Tin Man Santana was about to attack her but Scarecrow Brittany stopped her.

Tina Doll decided to jump off Rachel's shoulder and tried to attack the woman.

"NO," Rachel screamed as Morrible picked up the China Doll and threw her against the throne, shattering her body.

"No one will know that I am the true power behind Oz, that I will bring its downfall, no one will know of your supposed bravery because you will all be arrested and left to starve in prison, Oz is mine, and I shall plunge it into my Utopia, the useless will starve and the resourceful will survive, the weak will not find help with me, only the strong, power is mine and if anyone tries to stop me, I will make them disappear,"

But before she could do anything else, Glinda casted a spell and stopped her.

Rachel ran over to Lion Quinn and held the poor Lion's head in her arms and stroked it. She was still out like a light.

Scarecrow Brittany ran to Tina Doll as Tin Man Santana followed her.

"Glinda? I was just, these four, well five, were conspiring against Oz," Morrible said.

"Oh I don't think so, remember the audio video projectors you thought were off?" Glinda said as she clapped her hands, "They've been rolling this entire time, I switched them back on, to show all of your treachery,"

"I can explain,"

"You don't need to, tell me, how do you feel you'll fair in captivity?"

"What?"

"Cap-ti-vi-ty, prison," Glinda said before she mocked Morrible with something she had said to her back in Shiz, even doing the voice, "For you see I feel that you do not have what it takes, I hope you prove me wrong, I doubt you will,"

The guards surrounded Morrible.

"Take her away," Glinda ordered as the guards took Morrible away screaming.

"Quinn?" Rachel said as she stroked the Lion's head with a tear on her face. The Lion wouldn't let up, she was hurt, bad.

"Oh no, Tina," Scarecrow Brittany said as she knelt next to the doll.

"I'm okay Brittany, I'm just shattered," Tina Doll said, "You can fix me though, right?"

"You're in so many pieces, Tina, I,"

"Oh it's okay, maybe I wasn't meant to live, we China Dolls are fragile, so,"

"Tina you were meant to live, I don't know what to do," Scarecrow Brittany cried.

Glinda bubbled down to the five.

"Glinda, what do we do?" Rachel asked.

"I don't know about Quinn, but I know what I can do for Tina," she said as she walked up to the doll.

"Hi Miss Glinda, can you fix me?" Tina Doll asked.

"I can, I will do my best,"

"I trust you,"

Glinda casted a spell and everyone watched as Tina Doll's body began to reassemble again, stronger than before.

"Thank you Glinda," Tina Doll said as she stood up.

A grumbling groan could be heard as everyone turned to see Lion Quinn slowly open her eyes, her head still in Rachel's arms.

"Quinn," Rachel said with a teary smile as the Lion looked up at her and licked the bottom of her chin, "Oh Quinn, are you okay?"

The Lion just grumbled at her.

"Quinn, please don't go back to grumbling, Morrible lied, you aren't a dumb and stupid animal, you're better than you know, please," Rachel said as she kissed the top of the Lion's head.

But Lion Quinn just howled as she tried to move her legs.

"Oh no," Tin Man Santana said.

"What?" Rachel asked.

"Rachel, her legs, she hasn't moved her back legs,"

Rachel looked down as Lion Quinn struggled and grumbled and cried, her back legs were paralysed. She let out a loud and sad roar as she tried to struggle but could only move her upper torso.

"Quinn, stop, stop, it's going to be okay," Rachel said as she hugged Lion Quinn's head.

"I can't move my legs, I can't move them, Rachel, what's wrong with my legs?" Lion Quinn cried.

"She must have paralysed you when she sent you flying into that wall, oh Quinn I'm so sorry,"

Lion Quinn just looked away but remained in the brunette's lap.

"Glinda, you can fix this right? Magic it?" Rachel asked.

"I can't, the spell to do this is in the Grimmerie and I don't want to stuff it up," Glinda answered.

"But only Elphaba can read it and we don't know if she's alive or not,"

Glinda's lips trembled at that as Lion Quinn started crying and howling again because she couldn't move.

"Why do things always happen to me?" Lion Quinn asked in tears.

However, before anyone could say anything else; a screaming was heard as well as panic.

"HELP US," they screamed.

"Oh no, I bet Morrible escaped," Tin Man Santana said as almost everyone ran out.

Rachel didn't know what to do.

"Go with them, I'll be right here," Lion Quinn said.

"No, I'm not going, not without you," Rachel said.

"Go, they may need you,"

"Quinn,"

But Lion Quinn just pushed her with her nose to get the brunette moving.

"I'll be right back Quinn," Rachel said as she rushed out with the others, fully prepared to fight against Morrible.

When she reached the doors of the palace, all she felt was her jaw drop as she saw what was making all the Ozians panic.

And for that moment, she had no idea as of what to do; everything had turned to chaos.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16:**

Everyone's attention was at the figure that was appearing at the gates of the city.

Rachel's jaw had dropped when she realised that it wasn't Morrible they were looking at, it was Elphaba who was seen limping in.

The green witch looked up at Glinda and gave a small secretive smile, but no one was paying attention to that. They were all worried because the Wicked Witch of the West was back.

"It's the Witch, get her," some Ozians shouted as they pointed at her.

"No you idiot she was innocent all along, didn't you see the projection?" a few others yelled.

"But she could still be evil,"

"My fellow Ozians, STOP!" Glinda commanded as everyone stopped, "That woman is Elphaba Thropp, rightful Governor of Munchkin Land, former Wicked Witch of the West,"

"Former, your grace?" one asked.

"Well, for those of you who believe that she was innocent all along, especially after seeing Morrible's confession, then you know that she is truly and indeedly good, so the word former means that that's how you all used to view her,"

"I'm not convinced," another Ozian yelled almost making Glinda roll her eyes.

"Well, then I say to those of you that don't believe it, the water that was thrown on her melted away all the evil in her, I saw it with my own eyes, the water melted her skin from her flesh before it melted to her bones, and then it made her completely disappear in a steaming pile where nothing was left but her cloak, her broom and her hat, all the evil is gone, and while she will always be green, well, one cannot help how one is born can we?"

"You are certain Your Goodness that she is now forever good?" One Ozian asked.

"Of course I am, I am very certain,"

"How do you know of this?"

"Because I looked into it, and I am convince of Elphaba Thropp's goodness because I can see it now,"

That seemed to be good enough for the Ozians as Elphaba, Glinda and the four rolled their eyes at the simplicity and dim minds of the Ozians. Well, some of them anyway.

"We should celebrate," Glinda said, "For Evil has now been triumphed over,"

The Ozians cheered as everyone broke out in song.

_Thank Goodness_.

Glinda smiled as she started to sing too:

_Oh what a celebration_

_We'll have today_

The crowd looked up to her as they sang and danced:

_Thank Goodness!_

Glinda kept smiling and waving as she watched Elphaba make her way up to the four who were at the castle doors. Some people cautious of her, some looking at her like they were trying to apologise.

But Glinda kept singing:

_Let's have a celebration_

_The Glinda way!_

Everyone soon sang, including the four, Rachel felt bad that Lion Quinn couldn't join them in the celebration:

_We couldn't be happier_

_Thank Goodness!_

Glinda recalled the day she sang this when Fiyero was around as she smiled and looked at Elphaba instead and sang:

_We couldn't be happier_

_Because happy is what happens_

_When all your dreams come true!_

All the Ozians joined her with that last part as they all cheered when the short song ended.

"Now everyone, go out and enjoy, I believe that Elphaba and I need to discuss diplomacy, with the Wizard gone, we need to find the next rightful ruler of Oz, I leave you to your celebrations," Glinda said as she bubbled down to the ground and everyone cheered as they started to dance, sing and then drink.

As those that needed to entered the castle did so, they witnessed Glinda and Elphaba exchanging words, actually, it was more Glinda giving Elphaba a piece of her mind.

She began by repeatedly slapping Elphaba on her arms.

"Elphie where have you been? Do you have any idea what it felt like for me to think that you were actually dead?" she shrilled as she slapped Elphaba repeatedly on her arm.

"Ow, ow, ow," Elphaba started as Glinda kept slapping her arm… Oh well, at least it wasn't her face this time.

"You deserve it, you scared me,"

"My sweet, I'm sorry, but I,"

"Don't,"

"Please listen,"

But Glinda didn't as she pulled Elphaba in to a deep kiss before they stumbled into one of the rooms, no one was sure which one, but Rachel realised they were going to be occupied for a while. So she sighed as she walked back to the throne room. Lion Quinn was still there.

"What happened?" Lion Quinn asked.

"Elphaba's back and alive," Rachel answered as she took the Lion's head in her arms and stroked her mane.

"Ah, so I wasn't hearing things,"

"Nope,"

The Lion was emitting a small soft growling sound as Rachel held her head close to her chest.

"When those two are done, we'll see if Elphaba can fix you," Rachel said.

"I have you, so I don't care," Lion Quinn said.

"What's new pussy cat?" Tin Man Santana sang as she walked into the room followed by Scarecrow Brittany and Tina Doll.

"Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow," Scarecrow Brittany finished as Lion Quinn glared at the two of them before they burst out laughing at her facial expression.

"Sorry Pussy Cat, we couldn't help it, anyway, want some help?" Tin Man Santana asked.

Lion Quinn let out an annoyed roar.

"Quinn, you realise that if you roar, she's just going to keep teasing you," Rachel said as she stroked the Lion's mane, making her sleepy.

"I think she's starting to fall asleep, Quinn, don't sleep yet," Scarecrow Brittany said as Tina Doll jumped onto Scarecrow Brittany's shoulder.

"You're so cute," Scarecrow Brittany said as she got distracted by the china doll before she looked at Tin Man Santana and asked, "Sanny, I've always wanted a daughter, can we keep her?"

"Ask her," Tin Man Santana said.

"Will you be my daughter?" Scarecrow Brittany asked Tina Doll.

"Really? Because I don't have a Mom, she died long before the forest took over and my Dad was killed by Mombi," Tina Doll said with bright eyes and a big smile.

"Yes,"

"I have a Mommy again,"

"Awww," Rachel said as Lion Quinn looked over at them.

"C'mon, enough with the sap moments, let's get the Furball to a bed room," Tin Man Santana said as Scarecrow Brittany stood up with Rachel.

"So, which end?" Scarecrow Brittany asked.

"B, you and I grab her hind legs, she can lean on Rachel's shoulders," Tin Man Santana said.

"I might be too heavy," Lion Quinn said.

"Nonsense Quinn, we'll be fine," Rachel said, "Oh god, heavy, Quinn, claws, claws, retract the claws please,"

"I'm so sorry," Lion Quinn said as Rachel sat down, Lion Quinn's paws still on her shoulders, claws retracted, leaving her back legs still in the air because the Tin Man and Scarecrow were still holding on to it. The sight was making Tina Doll giggle a bit.

"It's fine, I'm just bleeding, oh god," Rachel said as she looked at her shoulders.

"Put me down, put me down," Lion Quinn said in a panic.

Tin Man Santana sighed as she did so as Lion Quinn crawled a little bit on her belly to get even closer to Rachel and started licking her wounds, "I'm sorry," Lion Quinn said as she cuddled up to the brunette.

"What's going on here?" Elphaba asked as she and Glinda entered the room.

"Oh yay, you're done, um, right?" Tin Man Santana said, "And ew, you two look like…."

"Sexy times," Scarecrow Brittany said quickly.

"Well, we had to get reacquainted," Elphaba said.

"EW!" Tin Man Santana said.

"Oh Sanny stop it," Scarecrow Brittany laughed.

"So, is everyone hungry?" Elphaba asked.

"YES!" everyone said.

"Okay, let's go eat,"

But before anyone could move, Lion Quinn whimpered as she crawled up to Elphaba and lay by the green woman's feet.

"Oh Quinn, what happened to you?" Elphaba asked as she knelt next to the Lion.

"Morrible cast a spell and sent her flying against that wall, I think it broke her back, she can't move her back legs," Rachel explained.

"I see, Glinda, why didn't you cast a spell?"

"Because I was worried I'd damage her more, I think the grimmerie has something but I wasn't sure," Glinda said.

"My sweet, the spell is quite simple, it's like if you had to piece together a doll like Tina,"

"Which I did do actually, and really?"

"Yes,"

"Please, you do it, you've had better experience with Animals,"

"Okay my sweet," Elphaba said as she looked at Lion Quinn, "You ready? This is going to hurt, a lot,"

"I'm ready," Lion Quinn nodded as Rachel stroked her mane.

"Okay, and when we're done, we'll look after your shoulders Rachel,"

"Okay," was all the brunette said.

"Everyone cover your ears," Elphaba said as she started casting the spell.

Lion Quinn started roaring loudly in agony as crunching sounds in her spine could be heard.

Rachel tried to comfort her, but it was no use, the Lion kept roaring loudly in pain until the green witch stopped.

"There, done," Elphaba said as tears started streaming down the Lion's face.

"You did good Quinn," Rachel said as she hugged the Lion's head, "Try to stand up,"

Cautious of what may happen, the Lion slowly stood up and moved a bit, a smile slowly making its way to her face.

"Quinn, you're walking again," Rachel smiled as the Lion bounded up to her happily.

"So, I'm hungry, kitchen's that way," Lion Quinn said as she was seen bolting off to get food.

Everyone chuckled at that as they followed suit.

As they all reached the dining room and sat down to eat, Lion Quinn was currently forgoing her manners and literally diving into her meal and making a mess.

"Quinn you need a bib if you don't stop it," Rachel laughed as she patted the Lion's back.

The Lion had leaned over the table and was now standing as she scoffed down her food.

Lion Quinn looked a bit embarrassed as she sat back down again.

Eventually, conversation turned to why Elphaba disappeared so well, so the green woman explained what happened.

"It was all an illusion," she started, "I had to make you all believe that the water would burn my skin,"

"But why?" Rachel asked.

"It was a new illusion I was working on, I wanted to see if it would work and it did,"

"But it was so devastating Elphie, and it was too real," Glinda said as she leaned her head against the green woman's shoulder.

"I know, and I'm sorry my sweet, but I had to make it look real so that the Witch Hunters would think I was really gone,"

"Where were you by the way? I looked for the trap door but couldn't find it,"

"So, you know how the Wizard was good at illusions and all that?"

"Yes,"

"And you know how you said that he was most likely my father?"

"Yes,"

"Well, guess I inherited something from him, smoke and mirrors type of thing my sweet, the trap door looked like stone so that no one would realise I slipped away, I hid for as long as I could, I wanted you to get going, if I was there straight away, do you really think you'd have made it back in time?"

"Well, I,"

"You would have had sexy times, even if Tina was there, so," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"Fine, fine, okay, but don't do it again Elphie, it was too real and I was scared," Glinda said as Elphaba looked at her with a smile and pecked her lips.

"I'll do my best my sweet," Elphaba said, "So, what are we going to do with Morrible?"

"I don't know, but for now, why don't we rest, I'm tired from this emotional day, and tomorrow we'll deal with it,"

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement, unfortunately it was all short lived.

"YOUR GRACE, SHE ESCAPED, MORRIBLE HAS ESCAPED," the guards all yelled as they ran into the dining room.

"No rest for the wicked," Elphaba muttered, "C'mon, let's go and save the Ozians, we have to keep her away,"

"We'll help," Rachel said.

"NO,"

"But,"

"No, not this time, stay hidden and stay safe, if you thought Mombi was bad, Morrible is worse, I will not let you risk your lives,"

"But we have to help," Tin Man Santana said.

"No, not this time, okay,"

"Fine, but first sign of trouble,"

"Deal,"

And with that, Glinda and Elphaba made their way out of the castle to confront Madam Morrible.

"Well, well, well, Glinda and Elphaba, who would have thought, you'll never beat me, never," Morrible said as she conjured up a small tornado and threw it at them, "Let the battle begin,"


	17. Chapter 17

**AN:** Hey all, I needed rest so I apologise for the delay. Been having a bit on my mind so I figured I should rest.  
Anyway, just a **warning** there is a **main ****character death** in this chapter and a slight twist.

I hope you will enjoy Chapter 17.

* * *

**Chapter 17:**

Elphaba and Glinda jumped out of the way as the Ozians all screamed in terror, ducking as quickly as they could as they rushed into their homes.

"We need to create a shield over the Emerald City," Elphaba said loudly.

Glinda nodded her head, "You do it, I'll distract her," she said.

"Please be careful my sweet,"

"I will,"

"And Glinda,"

"Yes,"

"I love you,"

Glinda smiled at her and ran off.

"Hey, you're supposed to say it back," Elphaba laughed as she suddenly got hit by the small tornado and slammed into the door, 'Oh right, not the right time,' she cursed to herself.

Cursing her infatuation with Glinda, Elphaba stood up and cast a few fireballs at Morrible who squealed and ducked.

"Hey Morrible, you're an ugly old hag who couldn't cast a real spell if she tried," Glinda said channeling Elphaba's wit.

"You insolent idiot, if it wasn't for Elphaba's insistence you'd have been kicked out of Shiz, she's the only reason you were able to stay," Morrible lashed back as she and Glinda traded blows.

With Glinda distracting her, Elphaba was able to look through the grimmerie for the right spell.

When she found what she was looking for she began casting.

Morrible rose herself into the air with the power of the wind so that she was floating and moving through the air above the city, "This is true power, I don't need a stupid broom or a bubble," she gloated as she heard the grimmerie speak.

"NO," she yelled as she shot a spell at Elphaba.

"Crap," Elphaba yelped as she jumped away with the book in her hands, "I need more time my sweet,"

Glinda tried again, but nothing was working.

Morrible started casting lightning that would pierce through the air and strike at both women. Glinda found herself ducking before having a lightning bolt hit too close to her, making the ground explode and forcing her into a wall and being knocked out.

"NO!" Elphaba screamed as she turned for a split moment to look at her love fall to the ground.

"That's it," Tin Man Santana said as she burst through the doors, "We're here to help,"

Scarecrow Brittany, Rachel and Lion Quinn were just behind her.

"One of you check on Glinda, the other three, distract Morrible, Tina Doll, help me with the book," Elphaba instructed.

It was decided that Rachel was going to see to Glinda as the Lion started her taunting first.

"Hey Witchy, bet you can't set my butt on fire," Lion Quinn said as she shook her butt at Morrible.

"Insolent, disgusting air breathing animal," Morrible said as she cast some fire at Lion Quinn who let out a startled yelp and started running but kept poking her tongue out at the witch, "You can't catch me, you're all talk but no real game,"

"Insolent creature," Morrible shrieked as she kept casting spells.

"Hey Witchy, you're looking like an old crone, can't you get any game?" Tin Man Santana taunted as she ran back the other way.

"Stupid Tin Man, you would have been perfect as my next in command, but you, you were too stubborn, it was my pleasure killing that wife of yours," Morrible shrieked.

Tin Man Santana nearly paused at that, but she kept running.

"At least I had someone who loved me," she yelled back, "You'll never have that, ever,"

As explosions, and lightning bolts were being hurled her way, Tin Man Santana kept ducking.

"I love you Sanny," Scarecrow Brittany said trying to make a point as she ran up to Tin Man Santana before saying to Morrible, "Morrible, you should really have your skin looked after, it's kinda pasty,"

"I'll burn you Scarecrow, and you'll never be human again," Morrible hissed as she threw fire at the Scarecrow.

The taunting and the battling went on for a while and Elphaba was pleased she had a chance to draw up the shield, it was slowly getting there, they just had to draw Morrible out of the city.

"Try to lead her out of the city," she yelled at Lion Quinn.

Glinda was starting to come to as Rachel helped her back up.

"No, Glinda, you have to sit down, the other three have this," Rachel said as she took Glinda and sat her down by the castle door in a safe corner.

"Elphie?" Glinda asked.

"She's safe, the shields are slowly going up, we're going to try and draw Morrible out of the city,"

"Be careful,"

"I will,"

And with that Rachel ran out to try and help.

Lion Quinn roared as she saw Morrible try and hit the girl with fire.

Rachel ducked and weaved as the Lion ran up beside her and somehow managed to get her onto her back and kept running.

"Quinn?" Rachel started.

"I have to keep you safe, at any cost, even my own life," Lion Quinn said as she ran, leaped and bounded across the city centre.

Unfortunately for the two, Morrible whizzed through the air and aimed a spell at them, making the ground shake under them, as more explosions could be heard.

Lion Quinn roared in pain as she was flung one way and Rachel was thrown off her back another way and knocked out.

The Lion roared in pain as she crawled over to the brunette and nudged her with her nose and let out small whimpers as she kept pushing softly against Rachel's head, trying to wake her.

"Hey, old woman, over here," Scarecrow Brittany yelled as she laughed and ran towards the gates and shook her butt at the witch, unaware that Morrible was conjuring up the worse spell imaginable.

"Brittany, NO!" Tin Man Santana screamed as she ran towards the joyful Scarecrow and pushed her out of the way taking the full hit.

Time slowed as everyone watched as Tin Man Santana's body now had a large gaping hole in it and her body was slowly rusting away and disintegrating piece by piece.

"Sanny?" Scarecrow Brittany said as she got up and ran over to the Tin Man who was slowly decaying away.

"Hey B," Tin Man Santana said as she started to cough, oil was now leaking from her lips.

"Sanny, why?"

"Because even though, we, we've only known each other for a few days, I love you Brittany, and I'd do any, anything to keep you safe," and with that, Tin Man Santana rusted and died.

Scarecrow Brittany felt her lips tremble as Glinda finally felt her strength and orientation come back as she stood up and saw the rusted Tin Man on the ground and a sobbing Scarecrow.

Rachel was knocked out on one side with Lion Quinn trying to wake her.

"Quinn, you have to help me," Glinda called out..

The Lion didn't want to leave the brunette but knew she had to.

"We should just kill her," Lion Quinn said.

"I know, but for now, we protect the Emerald City, that shield needs to go up," Glinda said.

"But she'll do more damage,"

"She can't, not for a while, with magic there is always give and take and she's using too much of her life force, so she needs to slow down eventually, Elphie is the only one I know who can use magic without it depleting her, I don't know why,"

"Okay, what do I do?"

"We draw her out,"

The Lion nodded her head as she ran passed the Tin Man and let out a low sad rumble as she looked at her friend.

"Quinn, let's do this," Glinda said with determination but wanted to cry as well because of the Tin Man.

The Lion was about to move more but Glinda stopped her for a moment.

"Just saying Quinn, I mean it, you can't kill her," Glinda instructed.

"Why?" the Lion asked.

"Have you never learnt about what happens to some Animals?"

"No,"

"Quinn, the moment you kill her, your animal side, the one that I know is getting harder to control, it will take over and you will be lost, you can't kill her,"

The Lion huffed but nodded her head.

Glinda threw a few bubble blasts at Morrible, drenching her, making the witch glare angrily at her.

Morrible cast a spell that sent Glinda crashing to the ground again.

"Elphie, please tell me that you're almost done," Glinda muttered in annoyance.

"Almost my sweet, almost," Elphaba answered as Morrible floated over them.

Lion Quinn let out a loud roar that echoed through the city that made Morrible turn to look at her.

"Oh, is the pussy cat sad that her tin friend is gone? I mean that was a rather nasty spell, shame I couldn't kill the Scarecrow, but the Tin Man shall do, stupid Tin Man should have known that such a spell like this would have killed her, she's not as invincible as she thought," Morrible mocked as she glared at the Lion, "Or are you sad that that little brunette of yours was hurt and you could do nothing to save her?"

Morrible smirked as she shot a fireball in Rachel's direction, engulfing the area the brunette was in.

Lion Quinn looked in horror as the flames rose and Morrible cackled. The Lion was unaware that it was an illusion, to this day no one knew why Morrible only cast an illusion at Rachel, but she did.

Red, that was literally what the Lion saw as she let out a series of short angry growls and grunts as she glared up at the woman.

Lion Quinn surveyed her surroundings, it was now or never for her as she found one way to get Morrible out of the city, she was going to be courageous and reckless at the same time.

Screw what Glinda told her, she was going to kill that witch.

She jumped up the sides of the buildings that let her.

"What the hell are you doing?" Morrible asked in alarm as the Lion let out a growl before roaring loudly and leaping high into the air, biting down hard on the old woman's leg.

Morrible screamed a unholy sound as Lion Quinn's jump dragged the two of them over the walls of the Emerald City.

"Got it," Elphaba yelled out as Glinda floated over the walls. The shields were now up and Morrible would never be able to get back in.

"I have to get Quinn," Glinda said as she finally saw the Lion.

Lion Quinn had Morrible in a death grip as she had bitten the old woman on her neck.

"Quinn, no," Glinda screamed.

But the Lion's eyes had changed, they weren't the same anymore.

"Quinn, stop," Glinda said as the Lion ignored her, "No, no, no, no, please, Quinn, stop,"

But it was too late, the Lion took one look at Glinda and sank her teeth into Morrible's neck. Her eyes had changed from the unusual hazel to completely black as she dropped Morrible's body to the ground and roared.

Rachel had woken at that moment and cried as she saw what was left of Tin Man Santana, "Brittany I'm so sorry," she whispered as she slowly limped over the to the two.

"Me too," Scarecrow Brittany said sadly.

"Brittany, where's Quinn? And Morrible? And Glinda?" Rachel asked.

"I don't know, I think Quinn jumped at Morrible and landed outside the gates,"

Rachel ran out of the gates and looked at the scene before her.

Quinn's teeth were bloodied, and her eyes were black as she turned to look at Rachel.

"Quinn? It's me, Rachel," Rachel said softly, "Quinn what happened?"

"Stupid Lion," a voice said from Morrible's body.

Rachel gasped as she looked up at Morrible who was somehow reassembling herself. Her skin growing back and her wounds healing, slowly mind you.

"She sacrificed her humanness for nothing, only the Wizard can defeat me and he's six feet under," Morrible cackled as she disappeared.

Rachel didn't know what to do now as she looked after Morrible.

"Rachel, RUN," Glinda yelled as Rachel looked down to see Lion Quinn glaring at her, stalking her.

"Quinn, it's me, Rachel, remember?" Rachel said, but the Lion didn't recognise her as she let out a roar and started running towards the brunette.

Rachel screamed as she tried to make a run for it.

But Lion Quinn was too fast as she tackled Rachel to the ground and was about to take a bite when she smelt Rachel's scent and paused, the Lion stepped back and shook her head, looking at Rachel again before her eyes turned back to their normal colour.

"Rachel, are you okay? Did I scare you? I'm so sorry," Lion Quinn said as she stepped over Rachel again and nudged her under her chin.

But Rachel didn't say anything as she cried in relief that the Lion wasn't lost to them as she wrapped her arms around Lion Quinn's neck and stroked her mane with one hand.

The big cat purred at that as she rubbed her head against Rachel's and tried hard not to lay down lest her body crush the brunette's body.

"We should go back inside the city," Rachel whispered.

The Lion scooped Rachel up and put her on her back as she walked back into the city, Glinda let out a sigh of relief as she bubbled down.

Elphaba and Tina Doll were standing next to Scarecrow Brittany who was holding the Tin Man's remains in her arms, unmoving, staring at nothing.

The Lion lay down next to the Scarecrow and nudged her with her side as she looked up at the Scarecrow who looked at her and patted her head.

Rachel knelt down on the other side of the Scarecrow.

"She died to save me," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"We should take her inside, and we should take some time to mourn, okay," Elphaba said softly.

"Do you think Mombi lied? She died to save me, why isn't she human again?"

"Oh Brittany, Santana died, she can't change if she died, at least that's what I'm guessing, either way, we should move,"

Scarecrow Brittany nodded her head but brushed anyone off who wanted to help her carry the Tin Man in.

"I have to take care of the people, and we'll have to eventually talk about what Morrible said," Glinda said as Elphaba nodded at her.

Rachel and Lion Quinn said nothing as they walked into the castle.

The air was now poisoned with grief.


	18. Chapter 18

**AN:** I apologise for not getting this up sooner, I've been racking my brains trying to write a suitable chapter. I will **warn you**, this is **a bit sad** as it will be Tin Man Santana's funeral for the most part.

Originally I was going to do a flashback scene but figured it's sad enough that she's gone.**  
**Also, I realise I completely forgot to mention what happened with Sam the Monkey and the other Flying Monkeys so it will be sort of looked at here.

Anyway, I hope you will enjoy this **long **chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 18:**

Lion Quinn slept next to Scarecrow Brittany that night, as did Rachel as the two tried to comfort their friend.

The Scarecrow had kept vigil of the Tin Man whose body, or what was left of it, was laid in a funeral casket made of reeds, decorated with flowers and her old uniform that Glinda had found in the castle; and taht the Scarecrow had dressed her in.

Sam the Monkey had finally returned as he had gone for a fly around Oz with the other monkeys, scouring the area where the ice castle was after the showdown with the Hunters at Kiamo Ko, so it was needless to say that he was incredibly upset when he learnt of Tin Man Santana's passing.

He stayed near Tina Doll to keep her company.

It was decided that they were going to cremate the Tin Man at a public funeral and the Emerald City Citizens decided to mourn her passing with those who knew her.

Her body was going to be carried out by six guards, Tin Men who were now free of Morrible's control.

Before the daylight faded, Glinda and Elphaba had assembled all the Tin Men who were being controlled and destroyed the bugs that were controlling them.

Finally free they were able to tell not only tales about how horrible it felt for them to kill innocents, but how they felt powerless to stop their actions.

"We had no control over our bodies, it was like we were watching ourselves do something wrong and there was nothing we could do to stop it," they said to the two women before telling them of a man named Puck, a Tin Man Law Enforcer who was imprisoned in the dungeons for going against Morrible and Mombi.

He too refused the bug, citing that he didn't need some enhancer to show true strength and ability.

Separated from Tin Man Santana because the two witches knew that the two tin men would have been good at leading a rebellion against them with the aid of Elphaba.

Enforcer Puck wasn't cursed like Tin Man Santana was, he was left to rot in prison. When they found him, his hair was wild, his beard was long and he looked dead to the World, but when they brought him out and he saw the body of his friend, he let out a devastated howl as he ran to her and touched the top of her head, feeling the tin under his fingers.

After that, Glinda got the staff of the castle to look after him, wash him, feed him and then make sure he was dressed before Elphaba gave him a potion to restore his strength.

When morning rose, he was up and ready, back again wearing his Tin Man Enforcer uniform proudly, his pin showing that he was the Deputy.

When asked why he didn't wear the Head Enforcer badge, he said that it was Tin Man Santana's badge and he refused to wear it.

It didn't seem long until morning arrived for Scarecrow Brittany who stood behind the casket as the six Tin Men Enforcers carried it out.

The fanfare was quiet, everyone was dressed in black. Even Lion Quinn had adorned on a simple black suit for the occasion and was standing on her hind legs like everyone else as she let out sad whimpers.

Rachel had tears falling from her eyes as she held the Lion's paw in one hand.

She knows she thinks this a lot, but this Oz was different from what she thought it'd be. It started out happy and fun, but it suddenly took a dark turn.

Elphaba and Glinda were standing on a podium outside by the funeral pyre as the procession began, the sad trumpets blew as the Tin Men carried out their fallen comrade, Scarecrow Brittany walking just behind them, flanked by Rachel and Lion Quinn.

When they reached the funeral pyre, and the Tin Man was lain on top of it, Glinda began her short speech.

"Fellow Ozians, we are here today to mourn the passing of a heroic woman, whose heart existed more than she could ever realise," Glinda said, "Santana was born in a small town that shared its borders with Winkie Peaks in the Winkie Country, she dreamed of joining the Tin Men Law Enforcement after seeing an injustice and has since then lived out her dreams, she met her first wife Dani and they lived happily for some time before Mombi and Morrible conspired against Oz, she gave her life for someone she loved after she thought she could never love again, we honour her today, Tin Men, you may give her your gun salute,"

Seven Tin Men stood forward as Enforcer Puck yelled out the drills.

"At-ten-hut, ready, aim, fire," Puck yelled as the Tin Men turned their guns to the air and shot out one round, "Ready, aim, fire,"

Again they shot into the air.

"Ready, aim, fire," Puck yelled a final time as they let out the final shots, "Stand down, attention, in formation,"

The Tin Men all lined up again as they stood side by side.

"Attention," Puck ordered as all the men stood at attention, "Salute,"

All the Tin Men did so as they saluted Tin Man Santana's body.

"And so it is from the dust we came and to dust shall we return, Santana will become a part of the World around us, existing as part of the air, a part of the water, a part of the earth that starts with being part of the flames, we so ask that her soul will find peace and rest," Glinda finished as she then told everyone to take a step back as Elphaba and her lit the pyre. The flames were not the normal ones as it would not melt tin, so Elphaba had to make it stronger as Glinda tried to make sure the flames wouldn't touch anyone else.

The Tin Men refused to move as they stayed as they were, still saluting.

The fire soon roared as Scarecrow Brittany began wailing loudly as Rachel held her hand, Tina Doll cried as she was standing next to Scarecrow Brittany's legs with Sam the Monkey who had a few tears too.

Lion Quinn let out a farewell roar.

Everyone cried and watched as the flames engulfed everything. Burning well into blue sky.

"Morrible will pay for this," Scarecrow Brittany said with certainty, "I promise you Sanny, she's hurt too many people,"

"We will get her, good will prevail," Rachel said in agreement as Lion Quinn nodded her head at the Scarecrow.

Everyone looked back at the flames as they noticed different coloured flames suddenly rising, almost as if there were reflective crystal and diamonds starting to fuse with the usual flames.

Rachel wondered how Elphaba did it until she realised that it wasn't intended as Glinda and Elphaba looked a little worried.

The Ozians who were there gasped as the flames grew higher and roared with such an intensity it made everyone but the Tin Men take a step back.

Suddenly Scarecrow Brittany saw something she didn't think could happen, the tin had melted away and in its' place was flesh that was slowly coming together. A few could see it happen.

The flames suddenly whirled together before disappearing with a bang, people were all gasping at the sight, some were worried that they were going to get hurt. Chaos would have ensued had it not been for Glinda calming them all down.

Scarecrow Brittany only had eyes on what was left of the funeral pyre.

There, where the Tin Man used to be was a woman with tan skin and dark hair that was splayed out around her. She looked like she was sleeping. She had nothing on, but her body was positioned in such a way that no one could see anything private.

Scarecrow Brittany ran up to the burnt funeral pyre as Lion Quinn took off her large black jacket and ran behind the Scarecrow.

"Sanny?" Scarecrow Brittany said as she softly touched the woman's head.

Tin Man Santana stirred a bit as Lion Quinn caught up to them and laid her jacket over the woman.

The woman stirred a bit as she woke.

"She's alive," Scarecrow Brittany said happily, "She's alive and the curse is broken,"

It took everyone a moment to register what the Scarecrow had said as they all suddenly broke out in cheers.

"B? What's going on?" Tin Man Santana asked as the Lion picked her up, "Wait, are you dead?"

"No Sanny I'm not, and neither are you, the curse is lifted, you're human again," Scarecrow Brittany smiled.

Tin Man Santana looked down at her hands and was surprised at seeing her normal human hands again.

"B, I'm, I'm human again," she said in surprise.

"Yeah, Mombi's curse is lifted, I don't know how, you were dead yesterday," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"Ozians, it looks like Mombi's curse is lifted and we have our beloved Tin Man back, return to your homes and then celebrate, for we will soon hunt down Morrible and find Ozma and then we shall again have peace in Oz," Glinda said as the Ozians cheered.

The Tin Men themselves all cheered as they broke rank and surrounded the Lion carrying the Tin Man.

Lion Quinn let out a roar at them.

"Holy moly, that Lion is protective," one Tin Man said in shock.

"Yeah, maybe it's because I don't actually have anything on underneath here and the Furball wants to make sure I'm safe," Tin Man Santana shot back.

"Oh, right,"

"Hey Spitball, it's good to see you, alive," Enforcer Puck said as he walked up beside the Lion.

"Hey Strip Head, you're alive," Tin Man Santana said as she shook hands with Puck as she tried to keep Lion Quinn's jacket around her body; and then did a bro fist with him.

"Get dressed, we'll catch up, that's if your body guard will let us," Enforcer Puck said with a smile.

"Oh it's not the bodyguard you'll have to worry about, it's the girl," Tin Man Santana grinned as she shot a look at Scarecrow Brittany.

Enforcer Puck turned to look and saw Scarecrow Brittany staring intently at him, although she was made out of straw, there was something menacing and powerful about the way she was glaring at him so he just nodded his head.

Finding a replacement for her uniform wasn't too hard as Scarecrow Brittany smiled as she watched Tin Man Santana get dressed.

"You're looking good," she said.

"Thanks, but it feels strange to feel again," Tin Man Santana said.

"You'll get used to it,"

Tin Man Santana smiled as she looked at the Scarecrow before pecking her lips.

The Scarecrow had a sad look on her face.

"Hey B, what is it?" Tin Man Santana asked.

"I was scared you were lost forever Sanny, and I'm also sad that I can't feel you," she answered honestly.

"We'll find a way to make you human again, we'll even travel all over Oz until you remember,"

"Really?"

"Yes,"

"I love you Sanny, and I'm glad you're back,"

"I love you too B, and it's good to be back, especially to be back with you,"

Scarecrow Brittany smiled at that.

* * *

That evening as Enforcer Puck joined everyone else for dinner, Elphaba told them her theory of how Tin Man Santana became human again.

"I figured that maybe it was because we melted her tin fully that it gave way to getting rid of all that was left of what made her tin and was part of the curse, and perhaps that's what freed her," Elphaba said, "She sacrificed herself, yes, that is an act of true love, but perhaps it was also because we were required to fully get rid of all the tin,"

"I don't know how that makes sense though," Rachel said, "It was supposed to be just an act of love that was selfless,"

"Maybe it takes time then, the spell to change a being from one thing to another takes time, perhaps that's why,"

"Maybe,"

"I don't care how long or even why, all I care about is that Sanny is back and alive," Scarecrow Brittany said as she leaned her head on Tin Man Santana's shoulders.

The Tin Man on the other hand was looking at her meal, unsure of what to do.

"You put that in your mouth you know, and chew before you swallow," Lion Quinn said in a teasing manner.

"Shut up Furball," Tin Man Santana said as she playfully whacked the Lion's arm, "Wow, I know I should have said it before, but you're actually really soft,"

"Um, thank you?"

"So what's the plan? What are we going to do with Morrible?" Enforcer Puck asked.

"She'll be going to the Ice Castle on the outskirts, of that I am sure," Elphaba said, "It was a place she talked fondly of while we were at Shiz, in her wounded state, she'd head there, I am certain,"

"Okay, so what do we do? Knowing what Morrible is like she'll probably get an army behind her," Glinda said.

"You have us, the Tin Men, we'll fight for you, she'll pay for what she's done to us, to our families and to Oz," Enforcer Puck said, "With Santana back, we'll help you win this,"

"Now comes the hard part, she said that only the Wizard could defeat her,"

"Can't Elphaba defeat her too then?" Rachel asked in wonder.

"What?"

"Well, she's the Wizard's daughter, for real, I'm sure of it, while there are things that are different about this world, I am certain that this is the one thing that is not, she has the power to defeat Morrible,"

"You think?"

"Why do you think Morrible was terrified of her and the grimmerie?"

"I don't know, because Elphie has actual powers,"

"Precisely, besides, even if she doesn't know that Elphaba is the Wizard's daughter, the fact still remains that she's probably lying about who can defeat her, yes, Quinn couldn't kill her, but Quinn's not magical like you two are,"

Lion Quinn grumbled at that as Rachel stroked her ears making the big cat purr.

"You really know how to calm her," Enforcer Puck said.

"It's because I don't push her too much,"

"You just know her sweet spots,"

"Probably,"

Lion Quinn just looked at Enforcer Puck and growled at him.

"Quinn, stop," Rachel said as the Lion looked back at her and licked the side of her face, "Argh, Quinn, barbed tongue,"

"Sorry," Lion Quinn said as she nudged Rachel's face with hers before going back to eat.

Eventually, talk became a bit more jovial as Enforcer Puck began regaling tales of Tin Man Santana's youth, with him there as witness of course. Much to her horror and embarrassment.

Currently he was talking about the story of how Tin Man Santana met a beautiful blonde girl.

(This was after the stories of her falling into mud while wrestling with him, being caught with her pants down because she got cake on them and took them off forgetting that she was in public; and crashing into a tree because she saw a pretty girl and wasn't looking as to where she was running and seemingly flew backwards and landed on her butt).

"This story is great, she was actually quite cute at that age, we were what? Nine or so I think," Enforcer Puck said, "She and I were at the falls not far from our small town, and there was this little girl there, Santana thought she was cute, any boy that tried to touch her or hurt her, Santana would just dive at them and start punching, the little girl would just giggle and say Sanny, you're so funny,"

"It was because those boys tried to pull her pigtails," Tin Man Santana said strongly but everyone could see the pink tinge on her cheeks.

"It was adorable, I'm man enough to say that, that girl though, she liked you, she even told you that you didn't have to protect her all the time, but you wanted to be her Knight and protect her,"

"Oh shush,"

"Do you know her name?" Glinda asked.

"I think she said her name was Ozzy, odd name I thought, but that's okay, she was a cute kid too, little blonde, piercing blue eyes, Santana actually declared to her in a loud voice that when they were older, she was going to marry her," Puck said.

"What did Ozzy say?"

"She said yes she would,"

"Do you know what happened to her?"

"No, she was taken away by her family since then, I suppose she was of nobility, so she probably was taken away from poor chums like us, and then of course, Santana met Dani, and the rest was history, how is Dani anyway? I mean I know you two divorced about ten years ago, but how is she?"

"She's gone," Tin Man Santana said quietly.

"Gone? Where? How?"

"Died, Mombi and Morrible killed her,"

"She was such a nice girl though,"

"I know,"

"How'd you meet the human, the lion and the Scarecrow?"

"Yellow brick road, the human kept knocking at my feet and annoyed me, the Scarecrow managed to oil me and the Lion was a coward we met,"

Lion Quinn glared at Tin Man Santana and snarled a bit at that remark.

"Hey, you were a coward, but you've proven that you're not," Tin Man Santana said as she raised her hands in her defence as Lion Quinn grumbled, "What?"

"I said I'm going to miss the fighting, I can't tear your head off anymore and stick it in the tree," Lion Quinn said.

"Yeah, I'll miss kicking your butt literally while being stuck in the tree,"

Enforcer Puck chuckled at that as Sam the Monkey flew into the room. After the funeral, he decided he'd fly again to the Ice Castle to see if anything was happening there. It took quite a while, but he went as fast as he could this time.

"Elphaba," he said as he puffed.

"Yes?" Elphaba said.

"Chisery and I, we decided to fly over the Ice Castle again, but kept a safe distance, there's an army there, all made of dark creatures, Morrible is assembling them, she's still limping and looks worse than usual, but I thought I'd let you know, she's creating an army to attack Oz,"

"Okay, thank you Sam, how long do you think we have?"

"Three days tops until her army is fully mobilised,"

"That's fine, we have time,"

"Don't you think we should move now?" Tin Man Santana asked.

"I know you're eager to fight again, but you've just gotten your human body back, you should take the time and get used to it," Elphaba said, "Besides, this will give me more time to pour over the grimmerie and other such spells to see if we can beat Morrible,"

"I'm coming with you," Rachel said.

"I know, it's why I didn't say anything,"

"Oh,"

"Look, the Ice Castle has a lot of secrets and I'm sure it'll be a good lead as to where Ozma might be, it's been so long since anyone has actually seen Ozma no one actually remembers how old she really is,"

"Oh, well, she's immortal actually,"

"Really?"

"Yes, I mean, do you want me to give you spoilers?"

"Um, Rachel, it's our history, we'd like to know this,"

"Ozma was the princess of the King of Oz long before the Wizard arrived, when he passed away she was supposed to take the throne but I guess Mombi got to her first and disguised her as a boy named Tip, since then the Wizard took over, Ozma is supposed to have great power, she could make all aging in Oz stop and people would only age and pass on if they wanted to, only the bad would die, however, if Ozians crossed the Deadly Desert and entered my World, then they'd age until they caught up to the age they're supposed to be, or something like that,"

"You mean I could come to your world?" Lion Quinn asked.

"Yes, but you'd forever be stuck as a mute lion, only left to your baser instincts, you have to follow the rules of the World you live in I guess,"

Lion Quinn pouted at that.

"Wow, so, I guess, if I went to your world, I'd no longer be green," Elphaba said.

"I guess so,"

"But I like you being green," Glinda said as she looked at Elphba.

"I was just saying my sweet, I have no intention of leaving Oz, not just yet,"

"Good,"

"Look, why don't we all get some rest, tomorrow we can start planning," Elphaba said.

"Puckerman and I will get our men briefed and ready, it'd be nice to train together again," Tin Man Santana said as Enforcer Puck nodded his head.

Glinda yawned as she and Elphaba stood up to retire to their rooms, but not before Enforcer Puck said, "So, which of you lovely ladies do I get to bunk with tonight?" he asked as he wiggled his eyebrows and stared intently at Rachel.

Unfortunately for him, Lion Quinn didn't see the funny side to that comment as she let out a short and loud roar and shoved him really hard with her paw before picking Rachel up and putting her on her back to take her to a spare bedroom as the brunette laughed.

"Jeez, what's with all the Puck hate here?" Enforcer Puck asked as everyone left the room.

He laughed a bit before he decided to retire himself to a spare room for the night.

* * *

**AN 2:** Yep, as most of you guessed (even without saying it), I was always intending on somehow bringing Santana back into the story.

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter - show down with Morrible will be up soon; as well as the hunt for Ozma; and then the story will almost be a wrap.


	19. Chapter 19

**AN:** For the reviewer who reviewed about Brittany - well, we'll see what happens with Brittany, all I can say is that in this World of Oz, she's linked to Ozma in some way (as many of you have already suspected).  
Sorry, I tried to PM you to thank you for reviewing, but you had disabled the PM feature.

Just a heads up to everyone still reading (and for that I thank you immensely), the beginning of the chapter is a dream sequence before the dreamer wakes up (obviously).

It will look into the last time the Land of Oz encountered Ozma before her disappearance.

Enjoy Chapter 19.

* * *

**Chapter 19:**

_Dream Sequence Begins:_

"Mommy, mommy," a small blonde child around the age of eight said as she ran up to a blonde woman.

Scarecrow Brittany watched the scene as the little girl ran passed her and to an older woman. She gasped when she realised that the older blonde looked exactly like her.

"Mommy, look, I made a pretty bird, isn't it pretty?" the little girl asked.

"Yes Ozzy, it's very beautiful," the older woman replied.

"Look what else I can do," Ozma said gleefully as she waved her hands over the colourful bird and made it come to life and fly away before returning to her hand, "Look, it's alive, his name is Spark,"

"He's a beautiful bird,"

"Lurline," a man's voice said.

"Hi Pastoria," Lurline said as she turned to look at the tall blonde man.

"What are you two doing?"

"Well, Ozzy made a beautiful bird,"

"I see that,"

"Daddy, look, his name is Spark," Ozma said with glee as she jumped from her mother's arms to her father's.

King Pastoria looked at Ozma sadly before looking up at Lurline.

"Ozzy, we have to talk to you today," King Pastoria started.

"Oh no, what did I do?" Ozma asked in worry.

"Nothing sweetheart, it's about Mommy,"

Ozma looked at her mother.

"Ozzy, you know how I'm Queen of the Fairies?" Lurline started.

"Yes, and you came here because you met Daddy and you enchanted Oz so that it'd be a magically place, but we can't go across the border to the other world otherwise there'd be no magic anymore," Ozma replied.

"Yes, Oz used to be like the rest of the World, it was just another country, but this whole place, this area, I saw how beautiful it could be, so I enchanted it to make it magically and you have my powers too,"

"Yeah, so, what's going on?"

"Ozzy, I have to leave,"

"NO,"

"I have to go back to my Kingdom, to lead it,"

"No, you've been here for so long, please Mommy don't go,"

"Ozzy, this is hard for me too, but sadly the duty of the Queen, any Queen, is always the motto of 'Duty before Self', our kingdom needs us to be its light and we can never abandon it, our lives, our feelings, they are second to our Kingdom, and mine needs me to return, I need to return, remember that Ozzy, 'Duty before Self', people will forget that, but you must not,"

Ozma started to cry but before anyone could say anything else there was a loud bang as cackling could be heard.

Lurline took Ozma in her arms and held her close.

"Run Lurline, take Ozma and go, I'll defend the castle," King Pastoria said as he drew his sword.

The scenes flashed a bit as Scarecrow Brittany saw Lurline run with Ozma in her arms. Chaos and battle was surround them as screaming could be heard.

Lurline had made it to the courtyard of the Castle and was about to run the gates before a voice stopped her.

"Queen of the Fairies, oh so great, let me cast you to your fate," Mombi cackled as she cast a spell at Lurline that made her fall and Ozma tumbled out of her arms.

"Ozzy," Lurline screamed as Ozma cried at taking the fall, Mombi was closing in on her, "No, you will not get my daughter,"

Lurline started casting spells, but her power was waning as Mombi eventually defeated her.

"You are a fool Lurline, you knew that staying here in this World would start depleting your power, making you weak, and now I have power even stronger than you, even if I age,"

"You age because your heart isn't good, that's part of the spell,"

"It will matter not, with you gone, I shall have power,"

"You will never keep Oz immortal, only I and Ozzy can,"

"Then I change you both so that you can never leave, and you shall have no memories of this place, of who you were or who you are, but your powers will still fuel this place, I was thinking of the Boy and the Scarecrow, isn't that a fitting thing? The child who is too senseless to do anything and the Scarecrow who will be too brainless to think of anyway back,"

"You, no, no, you can't do that to Ozzy, you can't change her,"

"You can join your King if you keep fighting me,"

"I will protect my family,"

"Try to,"

There was another loud bang and screaming, but what else was there, Scarecrow Brittany couldn't tell.

_Dream Sequence ENDS._

* * *

Scarecrow Brittany woke with a start.

"You okay B?" Tin Man Santana asked.

The group was travelling in carriages, Enforcer Puck had insisted that Tin Man Santana travel with the Scarecrow.

_"You need to keep your strengths,"_ he had said to her.

"Yeah, I'm okay, just a weird dream," Scarecrow Brittany said as she sat up.

"But you never dream,"

"I know, maybe it has something to do with the Castle, we're not far from it now,"

And indeed they were not.

It was decided that after a day of rest and preparation, the crew would begin their march.

The Flying Monkey's, Sam the Monkey, Elphaba and Glinda were flying just a bit ahead of the crew that were made up of about two hundred Tin Men that had been assembled from around Oz, magicked to the Emerald City by Elphaba.

Both former controlled ones and ex-Tin Men had joined.

Lion Quinn, Rachel and Tina Doll also joined the crew.

It was decided that the Scarecrow, the Lion, the Doll and the girl would search through the Ice Castle for clues about the whereabouts of Tip so that he could be turned back into Princess Ozma.

In the meantime, everyone else would be fighting against the dark creatures and of course Morrible.

"What was in your dream B?" Tin Man Santana asked as she stroked the side of the Scarecrow's arm.

"I think, I, Lurline," Scarecrow Brittany started.

"Lurline?"

"Yes, Queen of the Fairies who came to Oz to marry, live and love King Pastoria, they had a daughter named Ozma, Ozzy was her nickname,"

"I see, what about her?"

"She looks exactly like me, in my dream I saw it, Lurline looks exactly like me, but human or fairy, you know what I mean, I think Ozma is my daughter," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"You are certain?"

"No, I'm not, but the dream, it was like a memory, but I couldn't see more so I'm not sure, there was a fight in the castle against Morrible and Mombi and I think King Pastoria was killed,"

"That was more than thirty years ago B,"

"It was?"

"Yes,"

"I see,"

"So maybe Ozma has aged too,"

"Yes, so we're looking for a thirty or so year old man, near his forties anyway,"

Tin Man Santana just kissed the side of Scarecrow Brittany's head.

"Sanny, what if, what if I'm Lurline and Ozma is my daughter, Sanny, what if I'm older than you? You promised you'd marry Ozzy," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"B, I was a child then, kids do say things, besides we don't know if what you saw was a memory, what if you're Ozma?"

"I don't think so, I mean, Ozma was turned into a boy, right? That's what Rachel told us and Glinda confirmed the existence of Tip, so that leaves just Lurline, unless of course she died, then who the heck am I?"

"One of the castle staff who witnessed it, I mean what happened to the staff of the castle?"

"That is true,"

They were quiet for a moment before the Scarecrow said, "Sanny, I missed so many years of my life, I can't, what if, even if I'm not Lurline or Ozma, I must have had a family, what if I had children? I missed so many years of my children's life, what if they hate me?"

"B, you are cursed, they'd remember you and I'm sure they'd understand,"

Tina Doll, who had been quiet this entire time finally spoke up, "I know I'm being selfish when I ask, but, if you have a daughter, will I still be your daughter?"

Scarecrow Brittany smiled, "Of course, nothing will change that,"

"Yay,"

Tin Man Santana just chuckled at that.

In another carriage, Rachel was laughing at Lion Quinn who was incredibly restless about being stuck in a carriage.

"I'm bored, there's only so many times I can sing ninety-nine bottles of green goo on the wall," Lion Quinn complained.

"Quinn, you only sang it once and stopped after seventy-nine bottles of green goo because I got annoyed and you were tired of counting," Rachel laughed.

The Lion huffed, "I want to go outside and walk,"

"Then we'll open the door and let you,"

Rachel opened the door to reveal a beautiful country side, the Lion was about to bound out when they heard, "Company halt, we'll rest here for an hour," Enforcer Puck was heard saying.

Lion Quinn zoomed out of the carriage incredibly fast as she rolled onto the ground and stretched her legs. Letting out a very happy groan as she stretched her body.

Tina Doll's childish laughter could be heard as she ran out of the carriage to play with the Lion.

Rachel got out of the carriage and stretched her arms up high.

As she looked up she could see the castle in the distance, they'd probably reach the place by sundown.

She smiled as she looked at Lion Quinn who was currently playing carefully with Tina Doll.

She was pretending to stalk the doll and pounce carefully as the Doll climbed over the Lion's side and on to the top her head so that she'd be seated on her mane.

Once the Lion was sure that the Doll had a good grip, she rolled a bit making the Doll laugh.

"She can be quite playful when she wants to be huh?" Enforcer Puck said as he looked up at Rachel before helping her down from the carriage.

"Yeah, she can be," Rachel said as she hopped off the carriage, "Thank you,"

"No problem, so, I've been meaning to ask, where are you from?"

"Lima, Ohio, I fell off the stage at my school and for some odd reason I ended up here, I don't know how or even why, just that I killed someone by accident when I dropped in, literally,"

"I see,"

"I'm not a murderer if that's what you think,"

"I didn't say anything of the sort,"

Rachel was quiet for a moment before saying, "Do you think we can win this?"

"I don't know, dark creatures are hard to kill, you have to be head sure and fast, but I'm sure we'll prevail,"

Rachel just nodded her head.

"Tina, come, time for rest," Scarecrow Brittany called out.

"Do I have to? I like playing with Quinn, she's fun," Tina Doll said as Lion Quinn picked her up and carried her to the Scarecrow.

"You haven't rested since we left the Emerald City, so sleep, you're only what, seven years old,"

"I'm eight,"

"You're still young, so go to sleep,"

"But,"

"Do as our mother says," Tin Man Santana said as she crossed her arms and Tina Doll sighed as she rested her head against Scarecrow Brittany's shoulder and slowly began to drift off to sleep.

Lion Quinn lay down next to the carriage, her tail moving from side to side as she looked up at everyone and had a snarl on her face as she glared at Enforcer Puck who was still conversing with Rachel.

The Lion got up as she walked over to the pair and lay down by the carriage and stared intently up at them.

"If you're there because you're worried I'm taking her away, you don't have to worry," Enforcer Puck started, "I'm married, lovely girl named Lauren,"

"You are? Then why did you ask if any of us would sleep with you?" Rachel asked.

"It was a joke,"

"Oh,"

"Yeah, my girl, she's lovely, stubborn and strong, I wouldn't dream of being with anyone else,"

"What if one of us had said yes?"

"I would have slept on the floor, or just politely declined,"

"So, where is your wife?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen her in ten or so years, she may have gone back to the Uplands County, I don't know, but once Mombi and Morrible took over and Santana was cursed and I was imprisoned, so much time has passed by, for all I know she's probably remarried by now,"

"I hope not,"

"Me too,"

A sound made everyone tense as they saw a small figure running towards them.

Enforcer Puck got ready as he tackled the figure to the ground.

"Ow, what the? Puck?" a small yet adult voice said.

"Finn?" Enforcer Puck said as he got up.

"Oh, my, god, Finn? You're, you're a," Rachel started laughing really hard.

In front of her was Enforcer Puck and a Munchkin who looked exactly like Finn.

"What's so funny? Just because I'm smaller than you," Munchkin Finn started.

"No, no, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, it's just, in my world, Finn was a giant compared to me, one of the girl's in Glee Club calls him Frankenteen or The Jolly Green Giant, to see a version of you here, but incredibly short, it's just,"

"Funny?"

"Yes,"

"Right, who's this human? She's mean and insulting,"

"HEY," Lion Quinn roared, "She was just making an observation, cut her some slack,"

"Quinn," Rachel started.

The Munchkin looked at the Lion before saying, "Scary Quinn,"

"Sorry, she's protective," Rachel said as she patted Lion Quinn's head.

"That's okay,"

"Finn, what are you doing out here?" Enforcer Puck asked.

"Running, like I have been for the past week, I escaped from Munchkinland and then I ran into these vine creatures that tried to eat me,"

"You know that the Wicked Witch of the East is dead right?"

"Yeah, I know, everyone knows, but"

"Finn, what are you really doing out here?"

"She's coming after you, one of you has something she wants, ruby slippers, I managed to escape the Ice Castle after I was carried off by some Flying Monkey's about a week or so ago, I saw her plans in the crystal ball, she knows you're coming and she has a big battle planned against you, I knew I had to warn you, some way, some how, I was going to go home first, but I had to help you, anyway I have to keep running, never know if she's still got her eye on me, if she even knows,"

"Finn?"

"I did what I had to, but now I have to run, when this fight is over, maybe we'll have peace, but for now, I have to go home to my family,"

"Keep safe,"

"I shall, oh, and just so you know, there are citizen's frozen in that castle, one whole hallway is full of citizens from Oz who have been kept in a frozen state in some compartment type thing, you may want to free them somehow,"

And with that, Munchkin Finn started running again.

"Well that's ominous," Rachel said as Enforcer Puck agreed with her before he went to the front of the crew, "Let's move, Company, Line, atten-hut, forward, MARCH,"

All the Tin Men did as ordered as they assembled and then started marching, the carriages started just behind them as Rachel and Lion Quinn hopped back into their carriage. Tin Man Santana and Scarecrow Brittany were already in theirs.

Lion Quinn didn't like the feel in the air as she lay on the floor so that her head could rest by Rachel's hands.

"Rest Quinn, we don't know how long this fight will take," Rachel said.

"You rest too," Lion Quinn said as she leaned against Rachel's hand so that the brunette would start stroking her fur before the two dozed off to sleep.

* * *

It was sundown by the time they reached the outskirts of the castle. They didn't want to venture in just yet, deciding that it'd be smarter to set up camp.

Tin Man Santana, Enforcer Puck, Glinda and Elphaba stood in front of the large company of Tin Men and Flying Monkey's, Sam the Monkey was amongst them, feeling at home with his brethren.

Rachel, Scarecrow Brittany, Lion Quinn and Tina Doll were all standing at the front of all the men as they listened to Tin Man Santana's motivational speech.

"Right, we all know why we're here, all of us were imprisoned by Mombi, many of you had bugs on your necks, controlling you, forcing you to go against your code of upholding justice, Puck was incarcerated in a prison and left to die and me, I was stuck in tin, cursed forever to never feel anything again;  
Mombi may be dead, but Morrible is not, none of us will be able to defeat her, but we can ensure that Elphaba and Glinda can carry out their task and rid us of this evil, and then we shall find Ozma and restore peace, justice and balance to Oz;  
I will be honest, I don't know how many of us will survive, but we took an oath, protect Oz and all of her citizens, promote justice and always keep our flames blue;  
Together we will fight this battle and we will fight for those we love, nothing will come between us and this final battle, ARE YOU WITH ME?"

All the Tin Men erupted in cheers and yells of support.

"To Oz, To Oz, until our final breath," they all chanted over and over again as Enforcer Puck and Tin Man Santana joined them.

"And so we march, you know your company commander, we all have our tasks, to Oz and may make her proud," Tin Man Santana finished as she stepped down from her box and went towards the Scarecrow.

As the companies started their march towards the Ice Castle, Tin Man Santana took Scarecrow Brittany aside.

"I love you, know that I love you and I want to be with you Brittany," Tin Man Santana started.

"Sanny," Scarecrow Brittany started.

"No, let me finish, you complete my heart and I want you to stay with me, I want to marry you,"

"Well, then survive this battle and ask me after,"

"Stay safe Brittany,"

"I will, and Santana,"

"Yes?"

"I love you too,"

Tin Man Santana smiled as she led her company to the gates.

"She'll be alright," Rachel said as she patted Scarecrow Brittany's back, "They all will be,"

"I hope so," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"C'mon you two, let's go," Lion Quinn said as Tina Doll was already sitting on her back, "We have to sneak into that castle and lord knows what horrors we may face beforehand,"

Rachel just nodded her head as she took a deep breath before she started walking towards the Ice Castle. The feeling of fear and dread didn't leave her.


	20. Chapter 20

**AN:** So, this chapter will be quite **long** and I hope that it will explain how Morrible has her powers and why she's so strong.

There are a couple of small twists here, so I hope I did okay by it.

It will be kinda jumpy - you'll see what I mean. So sorry about that.

Plus the moment we all have been waiting for, we finally get to meet Ozma.

Enjoy Chapter 20.

* * *

**Chapter 20:**

"Oh this is gross, oh so gross," Rachel mumbled as she walked through the sewer pipes under the ice castle.

"I don't know why you're complaining, there's no sewage," Scarecrow Brittany whispered.

"I know, I suppose it's the idea of it, and the water that is here is cold,"

"Oh, right, you can feel,"

"Hmmm,"

The four were currently under the Ice Castle trying to find the right passage in, Lion Quinn surprisingly was leading the group in as they traversed the seemingly never-ending maze of tunnels.

Above ground they could hear the Tin Men march and Scarecrow Brittany again found herself worrying about her beloved Tin Man.

"Santana's tough, she'll find a way through this," Rachel said.

"I know, but it doesn't stop me from worrying,"

"Look, I think that's a way in," Lion Quinn said as she looked up and saw a grate.

Scarecrow Brittany looked up, "No, something about that isn't right," she said as she sat down and noticed a hidden alcove, "Hey, that's the way in,"

"You sure?"

"Yeah, something about it just seems right,"

The other three just followed her lead as they began their walk up and in to the icy castle.

* * *

Meanwhile at the castle walls, the Tin Men gathered round the front of the gates and main front walls as they started their war chants and pounding against the ground with their feet.

"Come out you coward," Tin Man Santana yelled at the castle.

"Insolent child," Morrible's voice was heard as howls and heavy footsteps were heard, shaking the ground, "I am the ultimate power here, me,"

"We have our army, show us yours,"

Morrible stepped forward as she slowly rose to the air with her power of wind, "Today the Tin Men Force will be destroyed by my army of the dark,"

Morrible let out a yell as she opened up the castle gates and out stepped a myriad of ghouls, bipedal wolves, manticores, trolls and minotaurs, things that were not supposed to exist in the land of Oz, but were manufactured and stolen from other worlds by Morrible and controlled by her, driven mad by her.

The creatures snarled at the Tin Men, though they held some fear in their hearts they refused to show it as they all stood firm.

"Your pitiful army will not defeat me," Morrible sneered.

"We don't plan on fighting you, we plan on fighting your army," Tin Man Santana said.

"And do you think I'd really let you destroy my perfect army?"

"No, but we plan to destroy you," Elphaba said as she and Glinda appeared.

"No, you can't be here, no matter, I will destroy you all, my minions ATTACK!"

And with that a roar from both sides was heard as the battle began.

Glinda and Elphaba were both in the air as Morrible joined them, it was like a lightning battle was taking place, there were flashes and thunder roars heard from above for those who looked and saw.

Screaming and yelling was happening as Glinda would strike once, Morrible would strike back, only to be hit by Elphaba.

For an old woman, Morrible was deceptively fluid and quick.

"She's too strong my sweet," Elphaba said as she groaned a cut appearing on her forehead from a close call.

"We have to keep doing this, for Oz, you can defeat her El…." but Glinda didn't finish her line as a bolt hit her bubble and burst it, sending Glinda flying to the ground from the impact.

"NO!" Elphaba screamed as she barely had enough time to magic Glinda down to safety.

"She always was a weak fool, her magic really isn't that great, yours however, you had potential, if you had just listened to us none of this would have happened," Morrible said angrily.

"You were planning on hurting Oz, I couldn't let that happen, you started by hurting Animals, then hurting the people who didn't agree with you, I would never join you,"

"Then you can join your beloved in death,"

And with that Morrible shot more lightning at Elphaba, but the woman dodged as she conjured up green lightning of her own.

The battle below them too was raging.

"Crap, there's too many of them, I can't, this is insane," Enforcer Puck yelled as Tin Man Santana was beside him, punching, kicking and shooting.

"I know, but we have to help save Oz," Tin Man Santana said as she punched a wolf hard in the face.

"Till the bitter end,"

"Till the bitter end," Tin Man Santana said as she roared and jumped at an attacking troll.

* * *

Inside the castle, it was deadly quiet, Lion Quinn couldn't hear anything, it was like Morrible took all her forces outside.

Good for them she supposed as the four finally were inside the castle.

They were walking through the never-ending hallways.

"What exactly are we looking for again?" Tina Doll asked.

"Any sign of a man named Tip," Rachel answered.

"Oh,"

Scarecrow Brittany just walked as she looked around, this place seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

_"__Mommy,"_ an ethereal and echoing voice said making her stop and look around.

"You hear that?" Scarecrow Brittany asked.

"Hear what?" Lion Quinn asked.

"That child, I heard a…"

_"__Mommy, over here,"_

Scarecrow Brittany followed the voice as she heard the child giggling.

"Brittany, where are you going?" Rachel asked as the other three followed her lead.

But the Scarecrow didn't reply as she kept following the voice, every now and then she saw a blonde child appear in front of her, looking back up at her with piercing blue eyes and a large smile, dressed in a simple white princess dress.

The image of the little girl would disappear every now and then as it led the Scarecrow to a Hallway full of ice capsules.

"This has to be what Finn was talking about," Rachel said as she gasped, "Look at all these poor souls, frozen in the age that they were caught, we have to get them out, carefully,"

Everyone started searching for a way to free all the people inside. Tina Doll was the one to discover a hidden panel behind a shelf that was at the end of the hall.

They realised that the board was full of hundreds of buttons, one for each capsule they rightly assumed. So they decided to open one capsule at a time. Luckily for them, the buttons on the board was set out how the capsules were lain, so opening the capsules they wanted; wouldn't be a problem.

The first capsule held a small figure that they couldn't really see. Tina Doll gasped when she realised who was now standing in front of them.

It was another China Doll like her.

"Mike?" she said cautiously. Mike Doll had disappeared a day before her town was attacked, he was active in helping Elphaba with the underground and was ten years old.

Mike Doll looked up in surprise, "Tina? Wow, you grew a bit,"

Tina Doll was happy to see him as she went and hugged him.

"Mike, I thought you were dead, I thought she got you,"

"She did, we power her," Mike Doll said as he hugged Tina Doll back.

"Power her?"

"Yes, all the citizens that are locked in here, there are over a thousand of us, our life force is what gives her power, we don't age per say nor do we actually get older, you know, being frozen and all that, but our energy is what she uses, the more prisoners she has the more powerful she becomes,"

"Let me guess, we can't free all of them at once can we?" Rachel said in a deadpanned tone.

"No, you can't, just one by one and floor by floor," Mike Doll said, "And if you do too many she'll know and she'll come up here and kill you,"

The group sighed, that would take hours and they would waste precious time doing so. Add the fact that if they do too many and Morrible knew, well, they really didn't want to face their death that quickly.

"Maybe there'll be someone here who knows how to free all of them and stop her at the same time," Tina Doll said as Mike Doll smiled at her and took her hand which made her blush.

"Well, there was a man who was dragged in here, I don't remember which capsule, but he holds the key to freeing all of us, I think they put him in that one over there," Mike Doll said as he pointed at one of the capsules.

The group decided to open the second capsule as another scarecrow stumbled out and cough.

"God, it feels good to be out of there," he said as he got up.

"Mr Schue? You're a scarecrow?" Rachel gasped.

"Whose shoe am I? Wait, I'm not a shoe, I'm a Scarecrow,"

"No, I mean, who are you?"

"I'm Fiyero,"

"Oh, my, god, makes so much sense, I mean, my Mom and April did fawn over you at some stage,"

"Pardon?"

"Never mind,"

"Listen, you have to help me free my friends Brrr and Boq,"

"We shall, but first, tell us, how'd you get trapped here?"

"Well, all I remember is being hoisted onto a pole for helping Elphaba, next I know Morrible and Mombi have me locked up in here,"

"Was there a man here by any chance?"

"Well, just the Wizard, but that's all I remember,"

"The Wizard is dead, Morrible said so,"

"No he's not, he's in that capsule over there,"

Rachel gapped as did the other three.

Tina Doll opened the capsule that Fiyero Schuester told them to as an old man tumbled out.

Rachel went to help him up as Lion Quinn pushed him from the other side so he could stand.

"Why thank you, I'm so cold, this place, I can't believe Morrible would do this to me," he muttered.

"Be glad she didn't kill you," Rachel said.

"I bet she wanted to, but I suppose keeping me alive was a way of keeping a trophy in mint condition, I don't know what goes through that woman's head sometimes,"

"I don't think any of us want to know,"

"Anyway, I'm Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, also known as the Wonderful Wizard of Oz,"

"I'll just call you Mr Diggs,"

"Right, so, what are we doing? And who are you?"

"I'm Rachel Berry, that's Brittany, Quinn, Tina, Mike and Mr Schue, I mean, Fiyero,"

"Ah, so, why did you free me?"

"Because you're apparently the only one who can help us, Morrible is under some belief that only you can kill her, Quinn over there bit into her neck but she just didn't die,"

The Wizard took a moment to think it over, "I don't know how I can defeat her, I'm not magical, maybe she's terrified of the weapons and knowledge I have from my World,"

"You mean my World?"

"Pardon?"

"I'm from Lima, Ohio,"

"Really? I'm from Omaha, Nebraska,"

"Look, we need to get moving, how do we defeat Morrible?" Lion Quinn asked.

The Wizard thought again before saying, "Well, this castle isn't what I remember it to be, Morrible told me that there used to be a magical family that lived here,"

"Lurline and Ozma," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"Lurline?" Fiyero Schuester said, "She's been dead for over thirty years, or something like that, and her daughter disappeared,"

"Dead?"

"Yes, she died trying to protect her family, the fairy kingdom came to pick up her body, but because they were in mourning they wouldn't help us,"

"Oh, how do you know?"

"Stories of our history, I may be brainless about certain things in life, it doesn't mean I'm not aware of them even if to others they are some what of a controversy,"

"So, how can you help?" Tina Doll asked the Wizard.

"There is a room here, and I have the key to it, there is something in there that Morrible is terrified of, some ball of energy and power, but I can't remember, I opened the room and she shrieked when she saw it, so I took it away and locked it in one of the towers, it must be powerful if it scares her like that,"

"So let's go find it, I bet that's the ball that can help us free all these poor souls who are feeding her power,"

"Feeding her power?"

"Yes, Mike was saying that the thousands of people who are trapped here are what give Morrible her power,"

"That makes sense, transfer their body energies and she would have an unlimited supply of power to just keep going if she has to, of course it won't help her as much if she's injured, but still, her healing capabilities will be stronger the closer she is to the castle,"

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement with that theory.

"Let's get going then, but first, let's free Boq and Brrr," Fiyero Schuester said.

"Just to let you know, Glinda and Elphaba are out there battling Morrible, you better tell those two that Elphaba is on our side," Rachel said.

Fiyero Schuester nodded his head as they freed Brrr and Boq from their capsules.

Rachel nearly fell over in surprise when she realised that Brrr reminded her a lot of Coach Bieste; however Boq was still Boq but as a Tin Man – or at least, the one she remembered from the play she went to see.

Lion Quinn was thrilled to meet another Lion as she greeted Brrr Bieste and shook her paw.

Once everyone was acquainted and the situation was explained, though it took a long time to convince Boq of Elphaba's goodness until Rachel recounted what happened to him from her memory of the story with Lion Quinn and Scarecrow Brittany explaining how Rachel knew about their world, when he wasn't convinced, they showed him her shoes.

With that matter settled, they all decided to keep moving and get to the tower as quickly as they could.

But Scarecrow Brittany didn't move with them. Rachel noticed this and stopped.

"Brittany, what's wrong?" she asked.

"She's here," Scarecrow Brittany said.

"Who?"

"I can feel her, I, she's right here,"

"Who?"

"My daughter,"

"Brittany?"

But the Scarecrow didn't say anything as she ran towards one of the other rooms, something was triggering her memory.

The closer she got to one of the capsules, the stronger the voice was that she heard.

_"__Mommy, I'm over here, Mommy,"_ she heard the little voice say to her again.

The group followed behind her as they saw the Scarecrow stop outside of a capsule and place her hands on it.

She cried as she saw the body of a little girl trapped inside it.

"We have to get her out, now, we have to get Izzy out of there," Scarecrow Brittany said in a rush as she started searching for the panel that would release her daughter.

Everyone did so, this time it was Lion Quinn who found the board full of buttons. They managed to find the right one and pushed the capsule open as the little girl stumbled out and into Scarecrow Brittany's arms.

As she slowly woke up, Scarecrow Brittany had tears in her eyes as she held her close.

"Mommy?" the little five year old girl said.

"Izzy, I'm here for you, Mommy is right here," Scarecrow Brittany said as she stroked her daughter's face with a sad yet happy smile.

"I thought you'd never find me,"

"I didn't think I'd ever remember how to find you,"

"It's okay Mommy, I understand,"

Scarecrow Brittany cried as she held her daughter close.

"Please don't cry Mommy, it's okay," Izzy said as she snuggled up to her mother.

Tina Doll looked up at them.

"Mommy, it's Tina, hi Tina, I'm your bigger younger sister, I know about you, I saw with my powers and my dreams," Izzy said as she waved Tina Doll over to them so that they could all hug and Scarecrow Brittany let out a small laugh.

"Little girl, can you tell us how to find Tip?" Lion Quinn asked hating the fact that she was breaking a moment.

"Who?"

"Tip, he was Ozma,"

"No he's not,"

"Pardon?"

"Ozma is my Mommy and she's girl,"

Everyone looked at Scarecrow Brittany who hugged her daughter again, "You're right baby girl," she said.

"Brittany? You're Ozma?" Rachel gapped as Scarecrow Brittany stood up with Izzy in her arms. A glow was starting to surround her giving her an aura of magic and power.

"I'm slowly starting to remember everything,"

"That's great, that means you can change back and bring balance,"

"No, I can't, my full power is bound, that's why I had to remember, Wizard, you will take us to that tower and do not think of double crossing me this time, for I have friends like Quinn who will tear you to shreds if you betray me again,"

"Great Ozma, I didn't know Morrible would do what she did to you, she told me that you were dead,"

"I didn't die, in fact I lived in secret for almost ten years, I met a good friend who eventually became my husband, Artie of the Knightly Realm, we had Izzy together but he died in battle against Mombi, it was your treachery that did this, your spies found us,"

"Your goodness, I swear it on my life that I did not know,"

"Irrelevant, take me to the tower, now,"

"Yes your grace, I didn't,"

"I was eight years old when my mother was killed in front me, eight, when I lost my father, eighteen when I had my child, twenty-three when my husband was killed, my daughter imprisoned and I was turned into Tip,"

"You mean you were a boy?" Izzy asked.

"For a week, but I escaped, except Morrible caught me, Mombi turned me into a scarecrow and cursed me to never remember again, guess she figured I'd never come back to the castle, this place has old magic that she won't realise existed, I have lost about thirty years of my life thanks to Mombi and Morrible and in some extent, You,"

"Your grace, I'm so sorry, I don't know how many times I can say that,"

"Brittany, that must mean you're almost as old as Elphaba and Glinda, and Santana, she must be about your age,"

"Yes,"

"But she doesn't look over the age of thirty,"

"Remember that Oz has the power to stop their citizens from aging, it's why if we so wish to, we remain a certain age, but if we cross the deadly desert we will age to what we're supposed to be,"

"Oh yeah,"

"That power comes in to play on our eighteenth birthday, some of us choose to age to a certain age, others choose not to age at all,"

"Makes sense, but what about Puck? I mean he looks a bit older than Santana now, aren't they the same age?"

"Yes, but when hope starts to die in you, so does almost everything else,"

"True, so I'm confused, why is Morrible after my shoes then? And why not keep you frozen here?"

Scarecrow Brittany sighed as her memory of why started to appear in her mind, "The shoes are a symbol of power and they hold real power too, Morrible knows that the person who wears them will get their deepest desires, Nessarose wanted to walk, you want to go home, for her, if she has those shoes she'd have unlimited power with no need for respite, that's why she wants them, Elphaba only wanted them because they're all she has left of Nessarose, you know she wouldn't kill you for them,"

"I know Elphaba wouldn't, so, why not freeze you?"

"Because this castle holds my power, and there was no way she could imprison me here, the old magic won't let her, she knows there is something in this place that would never allow me to be imprisoned, I remember now, when I was a child, they chased me far from the castle before stealing the majority of my powers so that I was weak, that power was stored in a crystal ball and covered, I managed to escape and ran, injured, weakened, but I kept running, without my powers I figured they'd just let me be, but I guess they kept wanting to find me, the last thing I could do was hide myself best I could, I changed my eye colour from piercing blue to the blue you see now and I changed my name to Brittany,"

"I see, why freeze Izzy?"

"Because while Izzy has similar powers to me, she isn't that strong, she's just a child, nor is she the Ruler of Oz, that right is mine and the power that comes with it,"

"I see,"

"We should get going now though, we are wasting time, once I have my powers back, we will free Oz of Morrible and her tyranny,"

Satisfied for now with the story that Scarecrow Brittany gave, everyone nodded their heads in agreement as they made their way up to the tower.

* * *

**AN 2: **So, as many of you guessed correctly, Brittany is Ozma. (I can almost hear some of you say 'It was kinda obvious' - Lol).

I hope you enjoyed that as the next chapter will NOT be the battle, it will be short snippets of the past (flashback) and how Ozma was turned from Tip to a Scarecrow and also her life on the run before hand.

And for those you wondering how the Wizard got his name, that is actually the name of the Wizard according to the books.


	21. Chapter 21

**AN:** Hey all, well, this chapter was a mission to write.

I will warn you now, it's **sad, jumpy and very, very, long**. I was thinking of splitting it in two, but I like keeping** flashbacks** such as this together.

So yes, this entire Chapter is a **flashback**.

I will put a page divider between the years so you can take breaks from reading, if you so wish.

The point where Brittany becomes Tip, I changed the gender use from she/her to he/him until Brittany is turned back to Ozma again.

Also, I will tell you that there are repeats from prior chapters that are incorporated into this flashback. So if you read dialogue and go 'Haven't I read this before?' - the answer is, 'Yes you have' - Lol.

The idea of Duty and Kingdom is actually from the movie 'The Queen' starring Helen Mirren, it was a fantastic movie and if you haven't seen it already, I do recommend it.

I hope you'll enjoy Chapter 21.

* * *

**Chapter 21:**

_Flashback:_

"Ozzy be careful please," Lurline called out to her daughter who was zooming ahead of everyone at a rapid pace.

"I want to see the falls," Ozma yelled back happily as she giggled away.

"Hey Puck, give that back," Ozma heard a voice say sternly.

She peeked around the corner and saw a tan girl and a boy with a Mohawk playing by the falls.

"It was my Mom's, give it back Puckerman," the girl yelled as she tackled the boy to the ground and wrestled with him before finally emerging as the winner.

"No fair Sanny, you cheated," Little Puck moaned as he got up and rubbed his sore limbs.

"I did not, I just kick butt better than you," Little Santana said as she poked out her tongue at him.

That caused Ozma to laugh out loud as the pair looked over at her.

Little Santana felt her jaw drop as she looked at the beautiful blonde girl with the piercing blue eyes, platinum blonde hair and the big smile.

"Hi, I'm Ozzy, who are you two?" Ozma asked.

"I'm Puck," Little Puck said proudly as he puffed up his chest.

Little Santana just shot him a 'Are you kidding?' look as she shoved him a bit.

"Hey," he snapped at her.

"Ignore him, I'm Santana and when I'm bigger, I'm going to a Tin Man," Little Santana said, "What about you?"

"I don't know yet," Ozma replied.

"I know one thing though,"

"What's that?"

"When we're bigger, I'm going to marry you,"

Ozma blushed a little bit as Little Puck's jaw dropped, "Ew Sanny, why do you want to get married? That means you'll turn into our parents, ew, I don't want to get old,"

"Because I like her, she's pretty and she's smart, you gots that?" Little Santana said as she glared at him.

"You just met her, you can't marry someone you just met,"

"Well, when we're bigger we won't have just met stupid,"

"Hey look, it's a silly little blonde and her stupid poor friends," a boy a year older than them and in a large group said as they approached the three.

"Go away Karofsky, leave Ozzy alone, or I'll go all Winkie Heights on your sorry butt," Little Santana said as she pushed in front of everyone and stood her ground against the bigger boys.

Little Karofsky just glared at her as he pushed her hard, so Little Santana pushed him back and a fight broke out as everyone started chanting "Fight, fight, fight,"

Little Puck tried to help his friend but he ended up being caught in a fight too.

"Please, stop the violence," Ozma said as she pleaded with the group.

But the fight kept going.

"I said STOP," she screeched, though in a slightly more pleasant way than one would imagine a screech to be.

Her powers erupted as she pulled Little Karofsky away from Little Santana and Little Puck.

The boys all fled in fear.

"She's a freak," Little Karofsky yelled as he ran.

Ozma felt a tear trickle from her eyes as she wiped her tears and cried.

"Hey don't cry, you're too pretty to cry," Little Santana said as she wiped some of Ozma's tears away, "Don't listen to him, he's stupid, I think you're really smart and you're really pretty, you're not a freak,"

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, don't you think I'd know my wife better than anyone?"

Little Puck on the other hand was pretending to gag at that as Little Santana threw a small pebble at him and made him yelp.

"Ozzy?" Lurline said as she caught up to the three children, "Ozzy, are you okay?"

"Yeah, Sanny protected me, some boys were being mean and she beat them up," Ozma said with a smile.

"Well, thank you Sanny, you have been a wonderful help,"

"Mommy, Sanny said that when we're older we're going to get married,"

Lurline had a sad smile cross her face, Little Santana noticed this, and she knew that that wasn't a good sign, "Oh Ozzy," Lurline said to her daughter but didn't finish it.

Lurline had invited Little Puck and Little Santana to join her, Ozma and King Pastoria that day for their family picnic. It was nice for her to see Ozma have friends as the little girl was often left alone in the castle. Well, as in there were no other children around for her to play with.

The two adults watched as the children decided to go swimming at the falls, enjoying their laughter.

"We could let her grow without the sense of duty," King Pastoria said.

"You know we can't, Ozzy will be bound by duty just like we are, it is our tradition, it is our ways, even when the common world forgets that, we cannot," Lurline said sadly.

"Tradition has worked for us, it has, but it doesn't have to be so for her, Ozzy has a good heart, and she will always be childish, you can see that, to become a royal like us would take away all of that,"

"And what are we to do Pasty? Forget our oath? It is the same oath that any royal in any country takes, it is that of duty to the kingdom first, duty to self is always last, we can never show emotion, we can never show tears, we must always be calm and collected because we are the hope of a nation, what we want and what we feel is irrelevant next to our kingdom,"

King Pastoria sighed at that, that was true.

"Ozzy will marry who she is arranged to marry," Lurline finished.

"But she really likes that girl," King Pastoria offered.

"I know, but she will learn as she gets older, duty before self,"

"What about us? We fell in love,"

"I know, but we were lucky, our marriage was arranged beforehand, but we fell in love anyway, we can only hope that that will happen for Ozzy,"

"We could always make it seem like an arrangement later on in life,"

"And how do we do that?"

"Lurly, your powers can see into the future, surly you must know who would make Ozzy happy,"

"I can't,"

"Why?"

"Pasty, you know why, you know why I'm spending more time with the family,"

"I know, I just don't want to acknowledge it, it's heartbreaking,"

"I know, but I'm becoming weaker Pasty, the longer I stay here the weaker I become and I know of a brewing evil in the East, I have to return to the Fairy Kingdom for a while, so all rule, all reign will be just you and Ozzy, I want our last day to be happy, all these years I was so happy in love with you and being a mother to Ozzy, but duty calls me back home whether I want to go or not, but I will be back, I promise,"

King Pastoria smiled sadly as he pulled Lurline into a hug.

"Promise me that you'll look after Ozzy, make sure she eats well, and she learns well, and that she'll laugh," Lurline said as King Pastoria pecked her lips.

"I promise," he said as he smiled at her.

When the day ended and the afternoon started to appear, Ozma waved goodbye to her new friends as the family travelled back to the castle.

When home, Lurline got the castle staff to prepare supper as Ozma was playing outside.

"Mommy, look, I made a pretty bird, isn't it pretty?" Ozma asked her mother as she made a bird out of mud and leaves.

"Yes Ozzy, it's very beautiful," the older woman replied as she went to pick up her daughter who had mud all over her dress and was still holding the bird in her hands.

"Look what else I can do," Ozma said gleefully as she waved her hands over the colourful bird and made it come to life and fly away before returning to her hand, "Look, it's alive, his name is Spark,"

"He's a beautiful bird,"

"Lurly," King Pastoria called out to her.

"Hi Pasty," Lurline said as she turned to look at the tall blonde man.

"What are you two doing?"

"Well, Ozzy made a beautiful bird,"

"I see that,"

"Daddy, look, his name is Spark," Ozma said with glee as she jumped from her mother's arms to her father's.

King Pastoria looked at Ozma sadly before looking up at Lurline.

"Ozzy, we have to talk to you today," King Pastoria started.

"Oh no, what did I do?" Ozma asked in worry.

"Nothing sweetheart, it's about Mommy,"

Ozma looked at her mother in worry.

"Ozzy, you know how I'm Queen of the Fairies?" Lurline started.

"Yes, and you came here because you met Daddy and you enchanted Oz so that it'd be a magically place, but we can't go across the border to the other world otherwise there'd be no magic anymore," Ozma replied.

"Yes, Oz used to be like the rest of the World, it was just another country, but this whole place, this area, I saw how beautiful it could be, so I enchanted it to make it magical and you have my powers too,"

"Yeah, so, what's going on?"

"Ozzy, I have to leave,"

"NO,"

"I have to go back to my Kingdom, to lead it, to replenish my strength,"

"No, you've been here for so long, please Mommy don't go,"

"Ozzy, this is hard for me too, but sadly the duty of the Queen, any Queen, is always the motto of 'Duty before Self', our kingdom needs us to be its light and we can never abandon it, our lives, our feelings, they are second to our Kingdom, and mine needs me to return, I need to return, remember that Ozzy, 'Duty before Self', people will forget that, but you must not,"

Ozma started to cry but before anyone could say anything else there was a loud bang as cackling could be heard.

Lurline took Ozma in her arms and held her close.

"Come out come out where ever you are Lurline Queen of the Fairies," Mombi's voice was heard cackling.

"Run Lurline, take Ozma and go, I'll defend the castle," King Pastoria said as he drew his sword.

Lurline kissed his lips as he kissed her back before kissing the top of Ozma's head.

"Go, fly, fly," he said as he waved them away.

The guards could be heard screaming in terror, but still fighting the best they could as King Pastoria ran towards the scene.

Lurline held Ozma close as she ran towards the castle's courtyard.

A loud bellowing could be heard and Lurline knew her husband was dead.

"Daddy?" Ozma started.

"Shhh, quiet Ozma, it'll be okay, Mommy is right here for you, okay, Mommy is right here," Lurline whispered as Ozma felt fear surround her as she held on to her mother closely.

"Mommy I'm scared,"

"Me too sweetie, just don't let me go, okay,"

"Okay,"

As she managed to enter the courtyard Mombi cackled at them.

"Queen of the Fairies, oh so great, let me cast you to your fate," Mombi cackled as she cast a spell at Lurline that made her fall and Ozma tumbled out of her arms screaming.

"Ozzy," Lurline screamed as Ozma cried at taking the fall, Mombi was closing in on her, "No, you will not get my daughter,"

Lurline started casting spells, but her power was waning as Mombi eventually defeated her and cornered her.

Bleeding profusely from her head, Lurline tried to sit up as Ozzy slowly started to stand and looked at her mother.

"You are a fool Lurline, you knew that staying here in this World would start depleting your power, making you weak, but of course you stayed for love, love, such a pitiful thing, and now I have power even stronger than you, even if I age," Mombi taunted her.

"I love because there are some things in life worth loving; I love because my child is mine, you age because your heart isn't good, that's part of the spell," Lurline spat back.

"It will matter not, with you gone, I shall have power,"

"You will never keep Oz immortal, only I and Ozzy can,"

"Then I change you both so that you can never leave, and you shall have no memories of this place, of who you were or who you are, but your powers will still fuel this place, I was thinking of the Boy and the Scarecrow, isn't that a fitting thing? The child who is too senseless to do anything and the Scarecrow who will be too brainless to think of any way back,"

"You, no, no, you can't do that to Ozzy, you can't change her, I won't let you," Lurline said as she got up.

"You can join your King if you keep fighting me,"

"I will protect my family,"

"Try to,"

Lurline let out a tired scream as she focused what power she had left before Mombi managed to overpower her, then stabbed her in her stomach. The Queen of the Fairies took one final look at her daughter before she died.

Ozma gazed at her mother, she could hear her mother's heartbeat slowing until it finally ceased. The battle around the castle stopped too as the powerful Queen of the Fairies died.

As the dust settled, Ozma was seen still staring at her mother.

"Mommy?" she said, "Mommy?"

The little girl ran over to her mother and shook her, "Mommy, come on, we gots to go, Mommy get up,"

"Oh sweet Ozma, now you shall be mine," Mombi said as she grabbed the screaming child.

"Mombi, we have to get her out of here, make her run out," Morrible said, "I can feel a power in this place, we can't get rid of her if she stays here,"

"Fine," Mombi said as she placed Ozma on the ground then scared her so badly with a banshee's cry.

Ozma cried and ran passed all those who had died including her father.

"That's it, run, run little girl, run into the forest," Morrible cackled.

When they were quite a way away from the castle, Morrible and Mombi descended on the terrified child.

"So, what shall we do with her?" Mombi asked Morrible.

"Change her, but first, steal her powers," Morrible said as they began a spell that would drain Ozma of her power, "We can't take it all or we'll lose the chance of immortality,"

"Why can't we have this power to ourselves?"

"We can, but I have a better way to use it, to make sure we'll have an unlimited supply of it,"

"Fine," Mombi said as she grabbed the sides of Ozma's face and began drawing her powers out. The terrified child didn't know how to counter it as she felt paralysed with fear at the two horrible women.

When most of her powers were drawn out, Morrible placed it into a strong crystal ball before shoving it into a bag.

"There, we'll lock it up in that castle, we'll make sure she never goes to it," Morrible said as the bag began to move and try to make its way to Ozma, but Morrible held firm, "Her powers will automatically seek her out, so we separate them,"

"I plan to turn her into a boy named Tip, what do you think? Make her forget?" Mombi said.

As Morrible disagreed, "Turn her into a scarecrow, but keep a bit of her heart, if worse comes to worse, we'll kill her by crushing it,"

As the two argued, Ozma finally got her courage back as she slowly backed away, she had to run, she knew it, where she'd go she didn't know, but she had to keep running.

"Where is she?" Morrible was heard screeching in an anger that would shatter almost anyone's ear drums, "You idiot, you lost the child,"

What else was said, Ozma didn't hear as she kept running until she was too tired to run anymore. She fell and rolled down a bank side and into the water.

She cried as she felt pain everywhere, but huddled up into a tight ball.

Using what magic she had, the child changed the colour of her eyes from the piercing blue to a light blue, then changed her hair from its platinum blonde to a sandy blonde. She didn't know what else to change as that was all she could think and remember from her lessons in the castle with her mother.

Thinking of her parents she cried again as she curled up into a tight ball.

"Mommy look, there's a girl over there," a boy's voice was heard.

"Artie, stop it," his mother was heard saying.

"I'm serious,"

The little boy ran over to Ozma who cringed away from him.

"Hey, it's okay, I won't hurt you, my name is Artie from the Knightly Realms, who are you? Are you okay?" Little Artie asked.

But Ozma just trembled and cried.

"Mommy, I think she's hurt real bad, she's got blood on her dress," Little Artie called out to his mother.

"Oh, the poor little thing, hey, we're here to help you okay," Artie's mother said as she knelt in front of Ozma.

"Please, help me, don't let the witches get me," Ozma whispered in fear.

"They won't get you, we'll take you to our town, okay, now sweetie, can you tell me your name?"

"I'm O, Brittany, my name is Brittany,"

"Okay Brittany, my name is Kira and this is my son Artie, he'll look after you for as long as he can, okay,"

Ozma nodded her head as Kira picked the little girl up and carried her, before Ozma started to fall asleep, exhausted from the run. Little Artie didn't complain this time about having to walk as he walked home with her.

* * *

_Flashback - Ten Years Later._

"Artie I can't find her binkie anywhere, have you seen it?" Ozma Brittany said as she ransacked the house; a small crying could be heard in the house.

Knight Artie was smirking as he watched his wife run through the house like a crazy woman. Unaware that he had the binkie in his mouth.

"Artie, where is her…..Artie?" Ozma Brittany said in half annoyance as she walked up to him and playfully shoved him before taking the binkie out of his mouth, "Ew, I have to wash it now,"

"I'm her father, she can't find me disgusting," he said in laughter.

"But I find you disgusting,"

"You weren't saying that about nine months ago,"

"Oh shush," Ozma Brittany said as she picked up their daughter Izzy who was born two days ago.

Knight Artie smiled as he watched her hold their daughter.

"What?" Ozma Brittany asked as she slowly rocked the baby to sleep.

"I'm just admiring you Brittany, that's all, you're still as beautiful as the day I married you two years ago," he said honestly.

Ozma Brittany smiled at him.

He looked at her as he pecked her lips, "I have to go, duty calls,"

"Do you have to go?" she asked.

"Yes, they're promoting me today, Captain of the Guard, I'll be the youngest one to ever do so,"

"I know, you told me many times,"

"Sorry, I'm just excited, you know,"

"I know, Izzy and I will be there when you get that honour, go,"

Knight Artie smiled as he kissed Ozma Brittany goodbye before kissing Izzy's head.

But before he could leave the house, his mother showed up.

"Where's my granddaughter? Where is she?" Kira asked happily as she walked through the door.

"Nice to see you too Mom," Knight Artie said.

"I've seen you for the last eighteen years, I want to see the new baby," Kira teased.

"I'm hurt, Brittany, my feelings are hurt,"

"Oh poor baby," Ozma Brittany laughed as she hugged Knight Artie.

"I feel better now, the mean lady was mean but you made it all better," he said in a pretend upset voice and a pout.

"Oh hush," Kira said as she held her granddaughter close, "Love that baby smell,"

Knight Artie laughed before asking his mother, "You're coming to the ceremony too, right?"

"Of course I am, why would you ask such a thing?"

"You haven't been well mother, so I was just checking,"

"I'm healthy as a horse, so I will be there for you son,"

Knight Artie smiled as he waved goodbye to his family and headed out the door.

* * *

_Flashback – Five years later._

"Mommy, look," Izzy said as she laughed with her mother. The little girl had created a bird from mud and leaves, just like her mother had when she was child.

The child moved her hands over it as she made the bird come to life and squealed as she did so.

"What are you two doing?" Knight Artie asked.

"I made a bird," Izzy said proudly, "And I made it become real,"

"Oh you did, wow,"

See, you'd think that Knight Artie would freak out over this, but he didn't.

In fact he knew about Ozma Brittany's powers for many years, since they were children actually, but he knew never to ask her why and how because she would freeze and become scared again. He just accepted it. And he kept his promise to never tell people about them.

The magic that she had, he knew, would pass on to their daughter.

"So, have you heard?" Knight Artie started.

"About what?" Ozma Brittany asked.

"The Wizard is on the hunt,"

"For what?"

"Anything that stands in his way, he claims that the Animals are part of the drought and terror,"

"That's codswallop,"

"I know, he has his spies everywhere and he claims that this Elphaba Thropp, the new Wicked Witch of the West, he claims that she's evil, but if she was, wouldn't she age?"

"She would, so?"

"She can't be evil then, I've met her before she hasn't aged horribly, she has the kindest heart there is, though her tongue can be quite sharp if she catches you for a fool,"

"Hmmm, I see,"

"And have you heard about the Tin Men Force? I don't know, we train just like them, but there's something demeaning about them,"

"What do you mean?"

"They're forced to become this cold, fearless, unfeeling being, actually, recently I heard about their top leader, a Santana from Winkie County, she's pretty tough,"

"Santana?"

"You know of her?"

Ozma Brittany quietened down for a while, "That was a life time ago, I don't think she'd remember me,"

"Oh,"

"Anyway, what else are you thinking of?"

"Something about that Wizard, I know he's supposed to be the Wonderful Wizard and all that, but something about him is unsettling, I don't think I've ever felt that way about anyone before,"

"That's because you have good gut instincts,"

"And that Morrible who's always with him, I tell ya, she scares me,"

Ozma Brittany froze again at that name.

"I'm sorry Brittany, I know she scares you," Knight Artie said, "I shouldn't have mentioned her,"

"It's okay, it was over fifteen years ago when I last saw her,"

"But she still has power over you, I can see it sometimes, you cry in your sleep,"

"But you're always there to cheer me up,"

"I'm your partner, I'm supposed to cheer you up,"

That happy moment was short lived however when a scream was heard.

"OZMA, WE KNOW YOU'RE HERE," Mombi cackled.

"Oh no," Ozma Brittany said as she picked up Izzy.

"Go, run, I'll protect you," Knight Artie said as he picked up his sword and shield.

"No, Artie,"

"I'm a Knight, it's my job to protect,"

"No wait, Artie, stop,"

But it was too late, Knight Artie had run out of the house with his sword and shield.

Ozma Brittany could do nothing as she watched in frozen fear as her husband and his men were struck down by Mombi and her minions, a group of winged monkey's, spies for the Wizard.

"ARTIE!" Ozma Brittany screamed then realised her mistake as she tried to turn and run.

The flying monkey's swooped in on her and grabbed a screaming Izzy from her arms.

"No, not my daughter, give her back you baboon's," Ozma Brittany cried.

"Well, well, well, so they weren't lying, were they, fifteen years dear Ozma, for fifteen years we were searching for you," Mombi said as she cast a spell that knocked Ozma Brittany to the ground, "Take the child away, put her in the castle with the rest of the prisoners,"

"NO!" Ozma Brittany cried as she tried to cast a spell, but knew it wouldn't work well. The flying monkey's got away. Her daughter screaming for her help and she felt powerless to do anything.

Mombi cackled, "Morrible was right, you are weak, now come along Tip, we have a lot to do,"

Ozma Brittany screamed in agony as her body shifted and changed into a man's. Pain unimaginable as she was trapped in a body that wasn't hers. In her air of victory, Mombi forgot to cast the spell to make her forget who she was, and for that, Ozma Brittany, now Tip Brittany was grateful for that. He could try and plan a means for escape. Once he got used to his body.

For the next two days, Tip Brittany was stuck, he didn't know what to do as he was stumbling from place to place, looking for the opportune moment to escape the clutches of Mombi.

For a woman who should have been wise, she really was a fool and let her guard down in one moment so that the man could try and make a run for it.

He ran for a week before the flying monkeys finally captured him and brought him to Mombi at her castle.

"Oh you're in for it now Ozma," Mombi snarled, "I shall curse you, no more will you remember your family, your child will be nothing to you, no more shall you remember who you once were,"

"No, let me go," Tip Brittany said as he struggled and groaned in pain.

"You shall think that the curse was placed on you by Glinda the Good, the witch in pink, you shall think that you want a brain, because you're so brainless and all you do is dance through life, you shall remember this and that, and things about life, but you shall never remember anything important, you will forget who you are, this is your curse, your bones will never break, you will never die, unless I find that little heart of yours, so you are cursed, Ozma!"

Tip Brittany screamed as his body changed back to Ozma Brittany before being turned to straw. Her head burning in agony as the memories were literally escaping out from her head.

Ozma Brittany grasped at her head, wanting to keep the memories in, but they were fading fast.

"Farewell Ozma, may you forever be cursed on that pole," Mombi cackled as she made the power hit Ozma Brittany stronger, causing her to black out.

* * *

Time went by since then and Scarecrow Brittany couldn't remember why she was on the pole, just that she was. She met a few people now and then, but none that dared to go near her. She heard of tales and adventures as people walked by, but life seemed pretty boring. Until one day she heard a voice say, "Left or right? Or straight?"

"Oh, you could go left," Scarecrow Brittany answered.

"What?" a brunette girl wearing ruby slippers said as she looked around and saw a scarecrow, "Oh my god, Scarecrow?"

"Yes, or you can go that way," she said pointing the other way.

"And here I thought scarecrow was a guy,"

"I'm very female thank you,"

"Noticed, can you show me where the Emerald City is? I'm looking for the Wizard,"

"Sure, just get me off this thing," The Scarecrow said.

"Oh, my, Brittany?" Rachel gasped as she finally got a closer look at who it was.

"How'd you know my name?"

"I, uh, lucky guess,"

"Good guess, I think, wait, can I even think?"

"Of course you can,"

"It's just, people keep telling me I can't because I haven't got a brain,"

"Oh Brittany, they just don't understand you,"

"Maybe, I just wish I had a brain, then I'd be smart and people would listen to what I say, because you know, a lot of the time there are people who don't have brains and they talk way too much, I don't want to be one of them,"

"I don't think you are, anyway, c'mon, let me help you down,"

Rachel went behind Scarecrow Brittany and looked for the rope, "Okay Brittany, ready?" she asked.

"I think so? Can I think? WHOA!" Scarecrow Brittany yelped as Rachel pulled at the nail wedge that had held Scarecrow Brittany in place and sent her flailing to the ground, "Oh my, it's so good to be free,"

And with that, she set on down the yellow brick road with her new found friend.

_End Flashback._


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: **Hey All, as always, I apologise yet again for taking a while to update. I've just had a couple of rough last few days and I didn't want to write a chapter that would be somewhat sub-par and odd because I wasn't in the right frame of mind.

Long story short, I met this girl online, I thought she was genuine and I then I found out that there was a 99% probability that she was a catfish.

My sister found her pic on some website. And although I tried to defend this girl, my friend; who's been catfished a few times before; also said that all the signs were there.

And that hurt and stung like hell because I always like to think the best of people and thought 'Wow, for once there is actually someone in this world who actually likes a putz like me enough to want to get to know me' - and when I realised she wasn't real and then was in turn accused of being a rude ass and inconsiderate - yeah, saying I was upset would be an understatement.

For those who are concerned, I am on the mend now and I'll be fine.

Because of this happening to me, I just want to warn those of you who don't know to beware of catfishes - I just don't understand people like that - why hurt someone that way? I think they have no idea how much damage they have inflicted on their victims; and if they do...*shakes head*.

I think the only online things I'll bother with now is FB, Twitr and of course writing here on this site for you guys, because you guys genuinely make my day.  
I like seeing that there are some people in this world who enjoy some part of who I am (which is being an amateur writer - typos included - Lol).

So, without further ado, here is Chapter 22 - the long awaited final battle, I hope you will enjoy.

Not long to go until this story is over.

Just a note, Brittany's name will change and you'll see soon why; AND, this chapter is kinda **long**.

* * *

**Chapter 22:**

As the war raged on outside, the small group inside the castle trudged up the stairs.

"Stupid Stairs of Doom," Rachel muttered under her breath.

"Mommy, she complains a lot," Izzy said as she looked over at Rachel.

"Izzy, that's rude, and you can't say much, you're being carried," Scarecrow Brittany said as she looked her daughter.

"Oh,"

"Yes, oh,"

"We're almost there," the Wizard said as he walked ahead of them with a smile.

When they finally got there, the Wizard pulled out a key that was concealed inside his coat.

"I thought there'd be a battle or something, this is too easy," Lion Quinn said.

"Don't say that," Rachel said with a hint of laughter, "It always means there'll be something coming up,"

"Oh no, I hope not," Izzy said as she held onto Scarecrow Brittany tighter.

Scarecrow Brittany just laughed a bit as she held her daughter close and kissed the side of her head.

"Here we are," the Wizard said as he slowly opened the door.

The tower room was empty as everyone looked in.

In the middle, floating, yet being contained by a lightning shield, was a crystal ball.

Scarecrow Brittany put Izzy down.

"Mommy?!" Izzy started in alarm.

"Izzy, I want you to listen to me carefully, okay? I want you to stay with Rachel and Quinn, they will keep you safe," Scarecrow Brittany said, "Everyone has to clear out, and stay away, my powers will hit me with full force and I won't be able to control them until they settle, understand, the walls of this room will contain it for now,"

Izzy nodded her head as did everyone else.

"Everyone, stay hidden, I have an odd feeling that Morrible may show up, hopefully Elphaba and Glinda will keep her busy," Scarecrow Brittany said as everyone nodded their heads, "I guess this will be the last time you see me like this,"

"Yeah," Rachel said with a smile.

"Thank you all so much for being there for me,"

She smiled at them as she shut the door behind her and then the screaming began.

* * *

Down below the battle stopped its rage, even Morrible froze.

Scarecrow Brittany could be heard screaming as the ground shook and her powers were erupting as they were being absorbed by her body, though they were hitting the walls of the ice castle, it didn't shatter the building in anyway.

Morrible knew what was going on, "No," she started with a snarl but couldn't move as Elphaba managed to catch her off guard and froze her to the spot.

"Brittany?" Tin Man Santana said as she wanted to get up and get to her love that was in the tower.

"No, stay," Enforcer Puck said.

"No, I'm going to help her, damn what happens to me, I have to try,"

But before anything could happen a loud bang was heard and a side of castle fell as Scarecrow Brittany came floating out.

Everyone looked as Scarecrow Brittany began to glow and her body changed.

The straw and the old scarecrow outfit fell and in its place was soft looking pale skin and blonde hair, the outfit was an ethereal looking yet simple white dress.

"I remember everything," Ozma Brittany said as her eyes glowed and the visible blue aura around her body got stronger.

Morrible tried to move but couldn't as Ozma Brittany looked down at all the creatures.

They were all staring back up at her as she casted a spell that released them from Morrible's grasps.

Free, the creatures all shook their heads.

"Go home, all of you," Ozma Brittany said as most of the creatures did.

"We're not from here, we don't know how to get home," one of the wolves said.

Ozma Brittany just nodded her head at the creatures who were left behind as she lifted up her hands, palms facing upwards, before casting a portal spell that would allow them to return to their homes.

"NO!" Morrible cried as Ozma Brittany turned to look at her.

The old woman broke free of the force that was holding her back and sent Elphaba hurling backwards and into Glinda's arms.

She shot a spell at Ozma Brittany but the spell didn't work, it just bounced off the blonde woman.

"You have caused so much pain and death, you will face judgement, Madam Morrible," Ozma Brittany said as she casted a blast at Morrible.

Morrible screeched as she went plummeting to the ground, but she regain her steps as she managed to finally hit Ozma Brittany on the side of her head, sending the blonde to the ground.

"Mommy?!" Izzy screamed as she ran out of the castle, worried about her mother.

Morrible turned and smiled menacingly at the little girl.

"No," Ozma Brittany said as she threw an energy ball at Morrible who ducked out of the way and cast a series of explosions at Izzy.

The little girl didn't get hurt however as Lion Quinn ran out at that moment and picked up the child with her teeth and bounded away as she carried the girl in her mouth, the blasts impacting just behind her. But the big Lion just pounced from place to place, never stopping or losing her footing as everyone else ran out of the castle to see what was happening.

Ozma Brittany cast yet another energy ball at Morrible and it hit her in the head before she swooped in at the old woman.

"You and me Morrible, just you and me," Ozma Brittany said as she grabbed Morrible and floated at rapid speed up through the air.

Everyone gazed up and saw the two clash against each other in the distance.

At times people could see lightning being cast at Ozma Brittany, who would weave and duck, other times Morrible would have to duck as a storm cloud she tried to control would be caught by Ozma Brittany; who would throw it back at her at full strength.  
Other times it was like listening to a thunder and lightning storm, the light would flash and a thunderous sound would follow. Sometimes hail would be seen floating in an unnatural way towards Ozma Brittany and Ice Shards would be thrown at Morrible; as the two women fought against each other.

On the ground, Lion Quinn put Izzy down as the little girl looked up. On pure instinct, the Lion nudged her head softly against the little girl who put her arms around her and hugged her head.

Suddenly an incredibly loud explosion was heard as Izzy started to cry from the noise.

Lion Quinn growled from shock but pulled the girl close to her.

Rachel's eyes widened in fear and Tin Man Santana screamed as they saw a body plummet to the ground.

Elphaba and Glinda tried their best to cast a spell to stop the body from impacting the ground, but it was moving at such a speed that their spells kept missing.

In the last minute, Elphaba managed to cast a spell to slow the body down, but it still hit the ground with an impacting force.

Izzy wanted to run over to where the body lay but Lion Quinn held her.

"I have to see Mommy," Izzy said.

"No, stay here, okay," Lion Quinn said, but the little girl broke free from the Lion's grip, well, sort of. In an almost true to cartoon style (even though this isn't a cartoon) Lion Quinn managed to bound ahead of the little girl, bop her backwards so she'd land on her butt and placed a very large; compared to the small girl; paw on the back of the little girl's dress, finally preventing her from moving further without ruining the dress.

"I can turn you into a snowman," Izzy huffed as she crossed her arms and turned her head to glare up at the Lion.

"But you promised you'd stay close to me and Rachel, and if you go over there, you'd be breaking your promise," Lion Quinn shot back and the little girl huffed at the Lion.

"But Mommy might be hurt,"

"I know, but trust that Mommy knows what she's doing, okay, and if something isn't right, Santana will go help her,"

"But,"

"No,"

Izzy teared up a bit as the Lion lay down and pulled her into a hug with her front paws before softly resting her head on top of the child's as they waited and watched from a safe distance.

The body that had landed started to get up slowly.

Ozma Brittany just shook her head, _'That hurt,'_ she thought to herself as she wiped her dress of the debris.

"No, how can you still be alive?" Morrible screeched.

_'God that woman loves to screech, crazy old hag,'_ Ozma Brittany thought as she looked up at the old woman and said, "Just surrender Morrible and justice will be served well,"

"I will never surrender to the brat of a floozy fairy queen,"

"Don't talk about my mother that way,"

"If she was so great she should have let all of us have what we wanted,"

"You want power and terror and to cause fear in people, I can't let that happen,"

"Then die,"

"No,"

Again the fight exploded into a myriad of sparks and explosions as the two clashed.

Elphaba got up and looked up at the pair, calculating.

"Elphie, no, you're not going," Glinda said.

"We have to help Brittany," Elphaba said.

"Ozma, and we don't have to,"

"My Sweet,"

"I can't lose you again,"

Elphaba kissed Glinda's lips fiercely, "And you won't," she said as she flew up into the air.

Ozma Brittany glided over to her.

"How can I help you Ozma?" Elphaba asked.

"She won't relent, I don't want to kill her, but I, I don't know what I can do," Ozma Brittany answered.

"We could freeze her, or turn her to stone,"

Ozma Brittany thought for a moment then was annoyed at herself for not thinking about the capsules in the castle.

"We'll freeze her, can you keep her busy for five minutes? I have to free a lot of people before we freeze her," Ozma Brittany asked and said.

"Yeah, I can do that," Elphaba said as she turned to Morrible, "Hey Morrible, how does it feel knowing that your elaborate plan failed?"

"Trying to distract me won't work this time," Morrible said, but Elphaba had managed to fly close enough to the woman to give her a shock.

"I'm more powerful than you think and I will defeat you," Elphaba hissed.

"You will not,"

Giving in to her pride, Morrible started fighting against Elphaba as Ozma Brittany began freeing all the trapped citizens in the castle, Glinda watched as Elphaba got hit so hard she spun out of control in the air.

Morrible cackled, "Say goodbye to the World, Elphaba Thropp," and with that, the witch casted a powerful blast.

"NO!" Glinda screamed as she floated rapidly through the air and created a protection shield between Elphaba and Morrible.

"Glinda!" Elphaba started as she managed to regain control of her broom and looked back in surprise as Glinda had created a strong barrier that was protecting the two of them from the blast.

The heat and light from Morrible's never ending wave was almost unbearable but Glinda didn't cease with holding her shield up, even though she felt her powers drain she didn't stop holding her position.

"Glinda, stop, my sweet, please, stop," Elphaba begged but the blonde wouldn't let go of her shield.

Morrible laughed evilly but then gasped as something hit her from behind.

Glinda dropped the shield tiredly as her eyes closed and she fell to the ground.

Elphaba raced to catch her.

"For your crimes Madam Morrible, I shall cast you to hell," Ozma Brittany said as Morrible felt her body freeze.

"No," she squeaked as her body froze up.

Ozma Brittany placed her inside a casket and sealed it shut.

"You shall live forever, just how you wanted, you will never die, but you will never move again, you'll be trapped," Ozma Brittany said as she put her hand on the casket and teleported it and herself to a room that had no exit, "This is purgatory, or at least, this is what my mother called purgatory, the only way in is through magic, all you'll have are these four walls, I'm sure you'll enjoy staring at that white wall right there,"

With that Ozma Brittany placed the casket upright so that all Morrible could see was a white wall for all eternity, "Welcome to Hell," Ozma Brittany said as she teleported back out to where all the Tin Men were waiting, "It's done,"

Everyone cheered as they realised that Oz would finally return to peace again.

Elphaba looked down at Glinda, who was resting in her arms. The two were on the ground.

Elphaba felt a tear run down her face as Glinda slowly and weakly raised her arm to wipe the tear away with her hand.

"It's over," Glinda said hoarsely.

"Yes it is my sweet," Elphaba said as she kissed Glinda's lips softly.

Lion Quinn watched as Izzy ran to her mother and jumped into her mother's arms as Ozma Brittany hugged her daughter tight.

Tin Man Santana shook Enforcer Puck's hand as she then went over to where Ozma Brittany was and kissed her cheek before she knelt in front of her.

"S, what are you doing?" Ozma Brittany asked.

"You're Ozma, the rightful ruler of Oz, and I'm a nobody," Tin Man Santana said.

"Sanny, no, you're someone to me, always to me,"

"I will forever be in your service,"

"S, I'm still the same person I was when you first met me,"

"Ozma,"

"Brittany,"

"What?"

"To you I'm Brittany,"

"And you're my Mami," Izzy said with a childish grin.

"I'm who?" Tin Man Santana said in surprise as Izzy laughed and jumped into the Tin Man's arms.

"Mami," Izzy said as she cuddled up to her.

Tin Man Santana looked a little shocked but hugged the little girl anyway.

Tina Doll walked up to Ozma Brittany holding Mike Doll's hand.

"Brittany, were there others like us?" Tina Doll asked.

"Yes, quite a few," Ozma Brittany said with a smile, "Seems like a lot of your townspeople were frozen just like Mike was,"

"Really?"

"Yes, and yes, you're more than welcome to come visit me anytime you'd like at this castle,"

"How'd you know I was going to head back to China Town?"

"I'm the great Ozma, I know everything,"

Tina Doll smiled as she let go of Mike Doll and hugged Ozma Brittany.

"Thank you," Tina Doll whispered.

"You are very welcome,"

"THREE CHEERS FOR OUR QUEEN," Enforcer Puck yelled as all the Tin Men started cheering for Ozma Brittany.

"Come fellow Ozians, let us return to the Emerald City, I think it's time to celebrate," Ozma Brittany said with a hearty laugh as everyone cheered in agreement.

"Oh crap, they're about to sing 'Thank Goodness' again, I need a drink," Glinda moaned as everyone within hearing shot started laughing.

* * *

**AN 2:** Well, there we go, Chapter 22. Next chapter will hopefully be up soon and it will focus on what happens to our heroes.  
And for those of you who are Angel fans, yes, Morrible's punishment was from that the TV Show.


	23. Chapter 23

**AN:** Hey all, this is just a **quick** chapter that is mainly about Brittany's Coronation.

Next Chapter will be an attempt at tying up loose ends with Oz before Rachel's return back home to Lima. Can't believe this story is close to an end.

Anyway, enjoy this short chapter 23.

* * *

**Chapter 23:**

The celebration that was held throughout Oz went for three days as word reached the ends of the small world that Morrible was finally defeated and the true ruler of Oz had been found and was returning to the throne.

Everyone was happy as they all yelled and cheered that Morrible was gone. Their worries of losing not only their own lives, but their friends and families as well were put at ease.

The Ice Castle itself finally melted away to reveal a beautiful granite stone castle with a beautiful courtyard.

Rachel had never seen a place so beautiful.

It was on the third day as the celebration was drawing to a close that Rachel reminded everyone that Ozma Brittany should have a coronation, thereby making it official that she was now the Ruler of Oz.

Everyone agreed to that.

A week after Morrible's defeat, the castle was once again a buzz as it was attempting to host as many of Oz's citizen's as possible.

Lion Quinn was running through the castle playing tag with Izzy and Rachel; since Elphaba and Glinda were with the Wizard and Ozma Brittany preparing the coronation, it's process, food, and how it was to be set up, while Tin Man Santana and Enforcer Puck worked on getting the security set up well.  
Sam the Monkey and the other Flying Monkey's were helping the castle's staff set up everything, and Tina Doll and Mike Doll were back at China Town helping rebuild it before they would journey in to see Ozma Brittany be crowned.  
So the only thing left to do was to babysit the very energetic and bubbly child.

Izzy was gaining a lot of enjoyment from watching the Lion bound from the ledge to the ground, back up to the ledges and where ever else she could pounce from.  
They were playing freeze tag and lava tag, but that soon turned to 'Catch me if you can Quinn,' as the little girl would squeal in delight every time the Lion would pounce at her or Rachel.

As the servants, who were freed from being in the capsules were preparing the banquet and rooms, they heard a crash and a loud squealing.

"GANG WAY!" Rachel yelped as she ran through them, followed by Izzy who was laughing loudly.

"I'm going to get you two," Lion Quinn was heard roaring as she bounded up behind the two.

On a closer inspection, everyone could see that the Lion was covered in sticky juice.

"Quinn, you're making a mess," Ozma Brittany said as Izzy ran to her mother and cuddled up to her.

"Yeah, but," Lion Quinn started.

"You need a bath,"

"But it wasn't my fault,"

Ozma Brittany just laughed, knowing full well what had happened, "And you monkey, time for a bath then bed time," she said.

"Oh, do I have to?" Izzy asked in a groan.

"Yes,"

"Mommy, will be go visit grandma and daddy sometime?"

Ozma Brittany became quiet at that, she hadn't spoken to anyone about visiting the graves of the only family she had while on the run; but she supposed it would probably be good to see if the town was well since Mombi's attack.

Because of the celebrations, she didn't have a chance to ask anyone or go there herself. Though why she didn't look in the crystal ball no one knew.

She looked at her daughter before saying, "Yes, maybe after the ceremony,"

"Will we bring them flowers?" Izzy asked.

"Yes,"

"Do you think Daddy would approve of Mami?"

"I think so, I think he would have been happy as long as I was happy, and I think that he would want me to be with someone who loved me and would do anything to protect me,"

"Yeah, Mami's cool, did you know she told me that she'd teach me on to go all Winkie Heights on someone?"

"Did she now?"

"Yeah,"

"Well, how about you tell me about it while you have a bath?"

"Okay,"

Izzy smiled as Rachel walked up to Lion Quinn, "C'mon Quinn, you need to bathe," she said as the two walked into the castle and to one of the rooms that they knew had a tub in. When they walked in, they realised that it was full of warm water, someone had seemingly and knowingly prepared it just for the Lion.

The Lion just looked up at her and grumbled, "It wasn't even my fault, you two filled up a water balloon with juice and threw it at me to scare me as I rounded a corner,"

"It worked didn't it? We got you running,"

"Yeah, yeah,"

Rachel smiled sadly as she patted the Lion's head.

"What?" Lion Quinn asked as she jumped into the bath tub, spraying water almost everywhere.

"Hey," Rachel laughed as she partially got drenched.

"You didn't answer the question,"

"Nothing,"

"Rachel?"

"I'm just sad that I'm going to be leaving you soon, that's all,"

"Then stay,"

"I can't Quinn, I have to go home,"

The Lion looked at her sadly, "I don't want you to go," she said.

Rachel just looked at her sadly back.

"But, you'll at least be here for Brittany's coronation right?" Lion Quinn asked.

"Of course, it's tomorrow," Rachel said with a smile.

"Have you been able to get the shoes off?" Lion Quinn asked as she changed the topic for a bit.

"No, and they're really uncomfortable, and my feet feel disgusting, but oh well, what can I do?"

"I guess nothing,"

"Exactly,"

* * *

As the sun rose the next day, Ozma Brittany was nervous. Sure, everyone knew that she was Queen, or at least, almost everyone. But it was still nerve racking for her to go through the ceremony.

As people filed into the throne room of the Lurline Castle, that's what Ozma Brittany ended up calling it, she waited patiently for her time to enter the throne room.

"All rise for Ozma," Enforcer Puck called out from the throne area as the trumpets blew their coronation song as she slowly walked in, people gasped and were in awe of her outfit as they stood up in respect for her.

Her clothing consisted of a shimmering silver white evening dress with a flowing sparkling and slightly purple transparent looking cape draping almost freely from her shoulders and gliding just behind her.

Ozma Brittany walked in such grace as she could feel everyone's eyes on her.

When she reached the throne, Glinda and Elphaba stood in front of her as they handed her the royal sceptre and an orb that had the symbol for Oz on it.

The Wizard stood in front of her with a smile, he seemed relieved that he could give away the right to rule, though Ozma Brittany knew that Glinda and Elphaba had something to do with it.

He read out the rites to rule as Ozma Brittany just nodded her head before turning to look at the crowd in front of her.

Lion Quinn and Rachel were sitting there with Izzy as the three smiled brightly at her, making her feel a bit more at ease.

"Your Majesty, please be seated on the throne," the Wizard said as Ozma Brittany sat down, "And so we crown you, Ozma, the new Ruler of Oz,"

The Wizard put a crown on Ozma Brittany's head as Enforcer Puck then said, "All Hail the new Queen of Oz,"

Everyone cheered loudly, even the cheering was heard outside of the castle as the criers announced the crowning of the new Queen.

Rachel observed the crown that was now adorning Ozma Brittany's head. It was similar to the one she saw on the cover of the books. The band itself was simple, and it did form the word OZ, the Z was on top of the O, on the sides of the crown, so that they were sitting on top of her ears, were jeweled red flowers, but what was missing was the tall crown piece at the top, although Rachel was sure that Ozma Brittany probably got rid of it, it did look awfully inconvenient and a bit odd.

"Your majesty, you are needed to greet your subjects," Enforcer Puck said as the Tin Men that he and Tin Man Santana selected came and acted as her bodyguards.

Ozma Brittany nodded her head as she got up from the throne and began to walk, greeting people in the Throne Room before greeting the cheering crowd outside.

"You will have a lot of business to attend to," Tin Man Santana said to her as Ozma Brittany nodded her head.

"Yes, I know, but for now let us all celebrate," Ozma Brittany said.

* * *

That evening as most of the Ozians left to return home, Lion Quinn was seen playing in the courtyard with Izzy.

"You know, you can stay with us if you like," Ozma Brittany said to Lion Quinn as the Lion felt Izzy climb onto her back.

"I don't know, I guess I could, but, I just," Lion Quinn started.

"You can stay in my room, and we'll be cuddle buddies, because you're big and soft like my teddy bear," Izzy said as she leaned forward and hugged the Lion's mane.

Now had it been anyone else but the child, Lion Quinn would have taken offense to being called a large fluffy soft toy, but it was a little kid who just happened to be adorable.

"I'll think about it," Lion Quinn said.

"Yay,"

"Izzy, would you like to go read a book with Rachel? She's sitting by that tree over there relaxing under the lamp," Ozma Brittany said.

"Okay, see you Quinn," Izzy said as she ran up to Rachel and sat by the brunette who greeted her with a big smile as the little girl put her thumb in her mouth and cuddled up to Rachel as Rachel began reading her a story.

Lion Quinn was about to join them when Ozma Brittany stopped her, "Quinn, I need to talk to you," she said.

"About?" Lion Quinn asked.

"Well, one, are you okay? I know you're sad because Rachel will be leaving us soon,"

"Yeah, I'm okay, I guess I'm just in denial about her leaving since it isn't for a while, I hope,"

"Okay, but if you need to talk,"

"Thanks,"

"Another thing, your parents,"

"What about them?"

"They're looking for you,"

"What?"

"They're looking for you, seems that they heard about your journey and your helping the Ruler of Oz, might be a chance to reconnect,"

"I know what they're after, and I don't want to see them,"

"Quinn?"

"They only want to be famous for having a daughter who helped the ruler of Oz, they don't care about me, no one in my family does, I'm too different, I'm not a real Lion to them, please Brittany, don't make me see them,"

"That is up to you, they'll be arriving at the castle tomorrow, just think about it okay, they may be here to see you,"

"I doubt it,"

Ozma Brittany just smiled sadly at her friend as she ruffled Lion Quinn's mane.

* * *

**AN 2: **I'm not too sure if I'll actually feature Quinn's parents or not; but I do know one thing, there'll be a wedding coming up in a couple of chapters, so Rachel isn't returning to Lima just yet.


	24. Chapter 24

**AN:** Here we go all. The next chapter.  
I probably should say that the next few chapters will be a bit more lighthearted and will obviously have a different feel and pace as we slowly draw to a close of this tale as there are no more 'bad guys' to face now and it's about getting Oz somewhat sorted before Rachel goes home.  
I'm not sure how many more chapters will appear, but I will tell you guys when we're at the end...obviously.

Enjoy Chapter 24.

* * *

**Chapter 24:**

The following day, Lion Quinn was found hiding under one of the stairs in the castle, she would have succeeded at hiding well, had it not been for the fact that she seemed to have forgotten that she was no longer a cub and her rear end was still poking out from under the stairs.

Rachel had to suppress a giggle as she saw the Lion's tail swish from side to side.

She picked up a candle holder that was nearby and poked the Lion's behind with it.

Lion Quinn roared in surprise and jumped, hitting her head as she scrambled out from beneath the stairs. She glared in annoyance at Rachel as she rubbed her incredibly sore head.

"Quinn, I am so sorry," Rachel gasped as she didn't mean to make the Lion hurt herself like that.

The Lion just walked up the brunette and nudged her hard so that she'd fall on her butt.

"Ow," Rachel said as the Lion lay down and placed her head on the brunette's lap, "Hey, what's wrong?"

Lion Quinn didn't say anything as Rachel started to scratch her muzzle and then her mane. The Lion purred as she suddenly started to doze.

"What are you doing on the floor?" Ozma Brittany asked as she walked up to them with Izzy in her arms.

"She was hiding, I scared her, she pushed me, and now ta-da," Rachel answered as Izzy giggled and jumped down from her mother's arms and walked up to Lion Quinn.

The little girl snuggled up to the Lion's side as the Lion lifted up one leg so she could pull the child into a hug and hold her close before dozing off again.

"Quinn, you're heavy and your paws are big," Izzy said as she tried to wiggle out, but the Lion wouldn't let her.

"What are you up to Furball?" Tin Man Santana asked as she walked up to the small group and kissed Ozma Brittany's cheek.

Lion Quinn growled at the Tin Man as she glared up at her.

"What? Just asking," Tin Man Santana said.

"You're hiding from your parents aren't you?" Ozma Brittany said.

"I don't want to see them," Lion Quinn said simply.

"Well, they aren't here yet, so, you know,"

"Why are they even coming? I was never worth their time until now, why can't they just leave me alone?"

Rachel just hugged the Lion as Izzy finally managed to escape her grasps.

"C'mon, let's all go to the dining room, we're having breakfast with Elphaba and Glinda, and the Wizard, apparently they all have news for us," Ozma Brittany said as everyone went to the dining room.

"Quinn, Quinn, can you carry me, please?" Izzy asked as she bounced up to the Lion.

"Oh, I don't know," Lion Quinn pretended to sighed.

"Please?"

"Oh okay,"

"Yay," Izzy said happily as she jumped onto the Lion's back.

"Shouldn't you be concerned that she's so easily comfortable with a wild animal?" Tin Man Santana teased as Lion Quinn growled at that.

"Mami, that's mean, besides Quinn is awesome," Izzy said with pride as she leaned forward to hug the Lion around her neck.

"You brainwashed the child, oh the humanity," Tin Man Santana said pretending to sound forlorn.

"Sanny stop it," Ozma Brittany laughed as everyone entered the dining room and sat down.

As everyone was getting into their daily chatter as well as eating their breakfast, Elphaba finally stood up and looked at everyone.

"So, Glinda and I have an announcement," Elphaba said as she took Glinda's hand.

"We're getting married," Glinda said happily as everyone at the table cheered.

"Oh my god," Rachel squealed as she got out of her chair and raced around to give Elphaba and then Glinda a hug, "I'm so excited for you,"

"Well, we were kinda hoping that you'd stay a little bit longer and be my Maid of Honour," Elphaba said.

"Me? Really?"

"Yes,"

"I'd be honoured,"

"I'm walking her down the aisle," the Wizard said proudly.

See, with all the hub-bub that had been going on, it must be said that no one had realised that Elphaba, Glinda and the Wizard had all sat down together and talked.

Glinda revealed that she found Elphaba's bottle and gave it to the Wizard to see. He was surprised to say the least as he took the bottle from her hands and took the one out of his coat.

When he realised that Elphaba was his daughter he actually cried in shock and happiness, then in sadness when he realised all the years he had lost with her and how he had basically alienated her himself.

Now Elphaba was not one to just forgive and forget, in fact she made it clear that she'd never forget, forgiveness was one thing, but forgetting, never. But she was keen to try a father-daughter relationship with him in some way so long as he remembered that she was now a grown woman.

The Wizard just smiled at her and said sure; to which Elphaba said, as his first fatherly duty he had to walk her down the aisle.

He blinked before realising that she was holding Glinda's hand as she said this and he smiled.

_"__Always thought there was something between you two,"_ he had said with a smile as he hugged the girls.

Now as they had announced the news to their friends, he found himself caught up in the excitement as all the girls started hugging each other as well as him.

"Now I just have to tell Momsy and Popsicle," Glinda said.

"You seriously call them that?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

"Nevermind,"

"When do you think we'll get married Sanny?" Ozma Brittany asked.

"Eventually," Tin Man Santana said with a grin.

"Yay," Ozma Brittany said happily as she hugged Tin Man Santana around her shoulders, "But first, let's all sit down again and talk business, lord knows I won't have much of a chance once it's all go, I have to clear your name firstly Elphaba, I feel that as the new Queen I should make it official properly, especially before your wedding, and Wizard, I was wondering if you'd still like to help run things, Emerald City will still need a mayor,"

"Oh your majesty, I'm getting old, I'd rather just sit back and wait for the grandchildren, I'm not sure how it'll work, but considering that those two are witches it won't be hard for them to work something out," the Wizard said as he smiled at them.

"Grandchildren? When did we discuss that?" Elphaba asked in mock shock.

"Well, you know, it's only right, right? I'm your father and I want to spoil you, but I want grandchildren to spoil too,"

"Wizard?"

Glinda just laughed at the two, "Oh Elphie, I think it'd be wonderful to have children,"

"Indeed, as long as they look like you my sweet,"

"But I want them to be like you,"

"I don't know,"

"How about we see?"

"Good idea my sweet, for now, back to the conversation that Brittany had started,"

"Right, so Glinda and Elphaba, since the Emerald City knows of you two the best, would you do the honour of running the place? Or Munchkinland?" Ozma Brittany asked the two.

"Well, I'm sure Boq and Brrr would like to look after Munchkinland and the people there support the two too, I know they don't need another Thropp in charge so I say that can go to them," Elphaba started, "I'd be interested in helping with the Emerald City, but only if Glinda is there with me, I don't have the patience that she does to deal with dunderheads,"

Everyone laughed at that.

"Okay, so after your wedding we'll make things official with the court present," Ozma Brittany said, "Santana is sorted to lead and train the Tin Men with Puck, that I'm certain of, that just leaves you Quinn,"

Lion Quinn just looked at Ozma Brittany but didn't say anything.

She felt a bit left out now, there was nothing really in this world that was left for her to do, all she could be was the background.

The forest didn't need a king and most of the towns were just getting used to Animals again, so there was nowhere for her to be.

And in time she had to accept the fact that Rachel was leaving her behind.

The Lion didn't know what to do.

"You can stay with us," Izzy said hopefully as she looked at the Lion who shot her a sad smile.

She knew, even here at the castle she'd eventually be left out as family life settled down.

Glinda and Elphaba she knew would want alone time and didn't need her around.

And in the end, what was she good for anyway? It wasn't like her family even thought of her as a real Lion.

She unconsciously let out a sad growl as she slinked away from the table.

"Quinn?" Rachel started but Ozma Brittany stopped her from following the hurt Lion.

However, the idea of letting Lion Quinn have time alone for herself was short lived when an angry roar was heard followed by another roar.

"Oh no," Ozma Brittany said as she got up and ran towards the noise.

As everyone got to the courtyard, they saw two Lions angrily glaring each other down.

"Quinn!" Rachel yelled out in worry as the Lion twitched her ears to show she had heard the brunette but wasn't going to break eye contact with the Lion in front of her.

"GET OUT," Lion Quinn roared angrily, "I DON'T WANT YOU HERE,"

"We are here to talk to the Queen, not you," Lion Russel growled back.

"She doesn't need to see you,"

"Back away whelp, you're a useless little Lion who can't even roar,"

Lion Quinn felt her temper snap as she attacked Lion Russel and swiped at his face, hard.

Lion Russel fought back and the two began to fight each other, exchanging roars and swipes.

"No, leave Quinn alone you big meanie," Izzy said as she rushed forward.

"Izzy, no," Ozma Brittany said but the five year old felt her powers erupt as she separated the two Lions, Lion Quinn had a small cut on her forehead that bleed a bit.

"Poor Quinn," Izzy said as she hugged the Lion around her head, "You're a big meanie, go away, I don't like you,"

"And who is this whelp?" Lion Russel asked as he advanced.

Lion Quinn bared her teeth angrily as she stepped over the little girl to protect her, growling angrily.

"Stop it, NOW," Ozma Brittany said as she shot her powers out and the two Lions back away from each other, "That little whelp as you call her, is my daughter,"

Lion Russel could be seen paling a bit.

"Who are you to barge in here Russel?" Ozma Brittany asked as her power surround her, showing her authority.

"We just wanted to come and see you your Majesty?" he said.

"And for what cause? Why did you not put in an audience for the court as everyone else?"

"Well, we just thought, you know, with Quinn,"

"Quinn has been a good, brave and loyal friend, her being here does not give you the same entitlement as you did not earn it,"

"But your majesty, surely you were aware that we were coming,"

"I was, in fact I told Quinn about you coming, but she told me she didn't want to see you, had you actually listened to the guards, which I know you didn't, you would have heard that you had to seek an audience with me and make a request to do so,"

"What makes her so great?"

"Do you remember Mombi?"

"Yes your Majesty,"

"Where were you when she came and terrorized the place? Where were you and your proud abilities?"

"I, well, I was, um,"

"Hiding, like many others were, Quinn on the other hand face tortured and still wouldn't give any information even if it were to save her hide, she helped fight against Morrible at the Emerald City and nearly lost her humanity because she wanted to save us, in the battle here at this castle, she risked her life to protect my child when no one else could or would, unlike you,"

Lion Russel couldn't say anything.

"Now leave Lion, and seek an audience with me so I can hear what your request is," Ozma Brittany said as she dismissed him.

Not wanting to cause more of a scene Lion Russel slinked away, but Lion Judy stayed behind as she looked at Lion Quinn with a proud look on her face.

Lion Quinn flinched a bit as her mother drew closer to her.

Lion Judy looked like any other female lion, and people could see that as she approached her maned daughter.

"No matter what he wants to say to the Queen, I do have something I want to say to you," Lion Judy said as she ran a paw over Lion Quinn's head, "You make me proud and I'm glad you didn't turn out like me or him, I'm proud that you are a brave little cub who fought when we ran,"

Lion Quinn sniffed as she felt like a cub again as she went to her mother and nuzzled her, emitting a purring sound as Lion Judy placed one front leg around her daughter to hug her close as she licked the top of her mane.

"Your mane is getting larger, I think you need a trim," Lion Judy laughed as she got up, "Of all things you inherit, I don't know why you got a mane when no other female has one,"

"Wait, don't leave me," Lion Quinn said as she looked at her mother, pleading with her, ignoring her mother's attempt at humour as she had commented about Lion Quinn's mane.

"Your father has a weak but large ego, and I shouldn't leave him to his own vices,"

"But,"

"You will be okay Quinn, you always were the better fighter than all of us,"

And with that, Lion Judy left as Izzy looked up at Lion Quinn and stroked the fur on her nose.

Lion Quinn sniffed as a tear fell from her eye.

"She's right you know, you're a cool brave Lion," Izzy said as Lion Quinn looked down at her before nuzzling into her so that the little girl could try and wipe away the Lion's tear.

"Come, let us return to the dining room and finish our breakfast," Ozma Brittany said.

"You love saying that, don't you, 'Come let us...,' you just love that sound of authority," Rachel laughed as she reached out her hand to run it through Lion Quinn's fur.

"Oh yeah, it's awesome to say that, all the time," Ozma Brittany giggled.

With breakfast over, and everyone talking about the wedding, Rachel soon found herself taking a break underneath a tree in the courtyard.

She loved this place, it was peaceful, lovely, and people treated her well here. Sure Glee Club and her were getting along better now, but there was something about this place that was more accepting of who she was.

But it wasn't her World, and she sighed in sadness that she would have to return to Lima eventually.

Lion Quinn padded up the courtyard to see her and lay down next to her, resting her head on the brunette's lap.

"What are you thinking about?" the Lion asked.

"Just home, and how it's different from here," Rachel answered as she looked up at the sky and cloud gazed while stroking the Lion's mane.

"Oh,"

"I feel more accepted here and yet, so out of place,"

"I see, I don't really know what to say about that,"

"Just lie here with me and relax,"

"I can do that,"

"QUINN!" Izzy was heard calling out as the Lion lifted up her head.

"She's really taken a shine to you," Rachel smiled.

"Yeah," Lion Quinn said as she let out a soft roar so that the little girl could find them.

"Quinn, yay, what are you doing?" Izzy asked.

"Resting with Rachel, want to join us?"

"But I'm not tired,"

"Well, resting means that we stay still for a while, I'm watching clouds and seeing if I can see shapes, want to try?" Rachel asked.

"Oh, okay," Izzy said as she lay down next to Lion Quinn and put her head on the Lion's side, "That cloud looks like Daddy,"

"It does?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, see, you can see him stand proud and strong with his shield and sword,"

Rachel looked up and sure enough there was a cloud shaped like a knight standing proudly.

"And that one looks like Elphaba," Izzy said as she pointed at a cloud that looked like a witch on a broom.

"It does, except her nose isn't that hooked," Rachel laughed.

"Whose nose isn't hooked?" Elphaba asked as she joined the small group.

"Your nose," Izzy said, "That cloud looks like you but Rachel said your nose isn't that hooked,"

Elphaba looked up and laughed, "My nose isn't that hooked,"

"So what brings you out here?" Rachel asked.

"Well, Glinda and I are going to travel to Glinda's home of Frottica, Upper Uplands in northwest Gillikin," Elphaba said, "And we were wondering if you'd like to join us?"

"Yeah, I'd love to go, why are we going?"

"Glinda needs to make it official with her parents, or so she says, and she wants their blessings, so we're going to talk to them,"

"I see, well, I'm up for it,"

"Great, and what about you Quinn? Quinn?"

She looked down and saw that the Lion had already fallen asleep as Izzy giggled a bit. Lion Quinn seemed at peace as she slept, a bit of her tongue was poking out from her mouth making her look quite cute to Rachel.

"She's sleeping," Izzy giggled while stating the obvious.

Elphaba laughed again before saying to Rachel, "Well, it'd be great for you to come, I know Glinda is positive her parents will be okay with us, but I have a feeling they may not be, Brittany and Santana won't be joining us as poor Brittany is stuck doing audiences with the public today,"

"Oh right, Glinda's parents will probably want her to marry Chuffery," Rachel said.

"What?"

"He's a wealthy businessman who Glinda was married to in the Oz books, no children and as Glinda would say in the book, he's as dry as a walnut, but like I said before, this world is different from the books, both Wicked and the Wizard of Oz; some parts even differ from the Broadway production, so for all we know, her parents will be okay with it,"

"I see, tell me, what happens to me in the books?"

"Well, Oz, you're bad, and you die, like I said by having water thrown on you, in the Wicked books you are driven insane and you have a son, and you die but it's hinted that you make a comeback, in the Broadway production you leave Oz forever with Fiyero to keep Glinda safe and you were so in love with him,"

Elphaba scrunched up her nose at that, sure, there was at one stage where she loved the idea of Fiyero, he was charming with his carefree ways and he was the first person to not care about her skin colour, but at the end of the day he didn't give her the same feeling that Glinda did; which was why the two parted so well earlier and why after the battle it was easy to part from him again.

He had since decided to travel around Oz to find where he'd belong.

"Your face looks funny," Izzy giggled.

"You look funny too," Elphaba teased back.

"No I don't,"

"Yes you do,"

"No,"

"Yes,"

The five year old's answer to that was to poke her tongue out.

"Can I come with you too?" Izzy asked, "Mommy is talking too much with people and I am bored,"

"Go ask your mother," Elphaba answered.

In the end it seemed that Ozma Brittany was fine with Izzy going.

"She will get bored here," Ozma Brittany said, "And this way she can see more of the country that she'll eventually take over and rule,"

"Yay, thank you Mommy, I promise to behave good and listen to Elphaba and Glinda and Rachel and Quinn," Izzy said as she then took a deep breath.

"Good, have a wonderful trip,"

With that, the group of five packed up and set out on their journey to Gillikin; Glinda holding fast on Elphaba's hand the entire trip there.


	25. Chapter 25

**AN:** Right, a **short** chapter. The next chapter will feature Elphaba's pardon, the wedding and sadly, Rachel's departure. So it will be longer than this chapter.

I hope you will enjoy the short Chapter 25.

* * *

**Chapter 25:**

As the group journeyed to Gillikin Country, Rachel looked out in awe at the beautiful scenery.

The mountains were picturesque and had a beautiful blue yet tinted with a hint of purple sky behind it. The hills were a lush green, and the surround area gave an aura of safety, and yet, you could tell that the area had an aura of the wealthy in it.

In the carriage, the five were sat comfortably enough, Rachel, Izzy and Lion Quinn on one side and Elphaba and Glinda on the other.

Elphaba was reading a little earlier in the trip, but Glinda had managed to coax her into small talk which usually consists of endless talk about nothing in particular.

Lion Quinn was lying down and napping on the seat next to Rachel with Izzy in her arms…paws.

Izzy too had fallen asleep from the long journey.

Rachel would have joined in in either the conversation or the nap, but she loved looking out the carriage window and seeing a world that was unaffected by things unclean, for now anyway.

A small jolt in the road woke the Lion up who pricked her head up quickly and looked around.

"Just a jolt Quinn," Rachel smiled.

The Lion was still lying down, but kept her head up, as she made sure Izzy was safe between her front legs.

"How long until we get there?" she asked.

"Not long now," Glinda answered, "The town is just up over that ridge,"

Everyone, except for Izzy of course, looked out the window to see the apparel of Frottica starting to appear.

As everyone was slowly getting themselves ready to exit from the carriage by packing their knick knacks and that, Izzy chose that time to wake up.

"Well good morning," Rachel said as Izzy turned and looked at her tiredly, the sleep not quite gone just yet.

The little girl turned around and snuggled into the Lion's chest as Lion Quinn looked down at her before leaning down and softly rubbing the bottom of her chin against the top of the girl's head.

Izzy just let out a small groan in annoyance as she tried to go back to sleep but the Lion wouldn't let her.

"We're almost there," Lion Quinn said as Izzy just looked up at her.

Still the girl didn't move so the Lion nudged her a bit with her paw.

"No," Izzy said as she grabbed onto the Lion's mane.

"Ow, of all things I had to inherit, a mane, seriously," Lion Quinn grumbled as Elphaba laughed at her and picked Izzy up.

"No, Quinn," Izzy grumbled as she struggled out of Elphaba's grasps and climbed back onto the seat with the Lion and snuggled up to her.

"She's not a waking up person is she?" Elphaba laughed.

"Nope, doesn't look like it," Glinda said as she ran her fingers through Elphaba's hair.

As the carriage pulled up into the town centre, Glinda got out first as people gasped at her return.

The gasps and muttering started when Elphaba exited the carriage next to stretch.

A couple of screams were heard when Lion Quinn zoomed out next so that she could stretch her legs. She hated being cramped for too long.

The Lion let out a small roar in comfort as she finally could stretch as she wanted; uncaring of the people around her who were terrified.

Izzy was being carried by Rachel as the brunette exited and stretched her legs a bit.

"We're here," Izzy said as she looked around, "Why is everyone staring at us?"

Lion Quinn just glared back at everyone as they whispered.

"I'm an Animal you know, I can hear what you're saying," she grumbled at them.

Everyone stopped as Elphaba laughed at their facial expressions.

"C'mon, Momsy and Popsical are probably at home so we'll stop by the inn first and get a room," Glinda said.

"Why don't we stay with them?" Rachel asked.

Glinda stopped for a moment before saying, "Because there's a chance they won't approve and I'd rather not be there,"

"Okay,"

Lion Quinn just followed everyone's lead as Izzy sat comfortably on her back.

"That Lion has nothing on, clothe him," a citizen said.

"For your information I'm female, thank you," Lion Quinn snapped as Izzy patted her back.

"Well you should be clothed, wearing nothing is indecent,"

"I'm a Lion, you won't see anything unsavoury, unlike you humans,"

"If you're offended by the Lion, then don't look and keep your nose away from us," Elphaba said as she stood by Lion Quinn and placed a supporting hand on the Lion's head.

"She's huge, she's almost up to your chest and that's her staying on all fours, how can you trust her with your child?" the woman said turning her nose at them.

"Because she saved me and she's awesome," Izzy said as she giggled and leaned on top of Lion Quinn's head and kissed it.

"Filthy, you just wait, she'll turn on you,"

Lion Quinn snarled at the woman and was attempting to pounce at her but Rachel placed a hand on her head to calm her.

"Let it go Quinn, people like her are prejudiced not because she has reason to, but because she needs something to complain about without looking into the facts, let's just go," Rachel said to her.

The woman huffed at them as the five walked away.

"Quinn, I'm hungry," Izzy said.

"We'll get something soon, I promise," Lion Quinn said as she looked at Elphaba who nodded her head.

"We just need to get a room at the inn for the five or us first and then we'll get something, okay," Elphaba said to Izzy who nodded her head.

After the five found a nice room to rent out, they had a meal before taking the carriage to Glinda's family home.

When they arrived, Glinda was greeted by the servants.

"Your parents are waiting for you," the maid said as she bowed her head at Glinda, "They had word that you were heading home,"

"Thank you," Glinda said as the maid lead them to the family room where her parents were sitting.

"Ah, Galinda, good to see you alive, we heard tales of your battle against Mombi and Morrible, I must say I didn't see that coming," her father said as he got up to greet her followed by her mother, "And who are they?"

"Oh, that's Rachel from Lima, she helped with Morrible's demise," Glinda started.

"I see,"

"And this is Elphie,"

"I'm aware who this green monstrosity is, you may have others fooled with your story about her goodnes but she shouldn't even be here, she is filth, she is a sin,"

"Popsical, Elphie is good, Queen Ozma even said so,"

"Pwah what does that young ruler know?"

"A lot actually,"

"And why is there an animal in my lounge?"

"That's Quinn, she helped defeat Morrible, and saved the little girl who is on her back,"

"She is still an animal,"

"Animal Popsical, big A,"

"It doesn't matter, I want her out,"

"Just give us a moment, please Popsical,"

"Fine, what are you here for?"

"I uh, I wish to get married,"

"Splendid, to that Chuffery I assume,"

"Chuffery? No, goodness no, I,"

"Oh, is it that Fiyero? Where is he now?"

"Gone, and no, I, I wish to marry Elphaba,"

"You what?"

"Elphaba proposed to me and I said yes,"

"I FORBID IT,"

Izzy started to cry as the man raised his voice at them.

"And who is this…child?" Glinda's father demanded, "This child that you so carelessly place on a wild animal? No regard for her safety,"

"Quinn isn't a wild animal, and that child is the Queen's daughter," Glinda answered, "Quinn, why don't you and Rachel take her out of here, I don't think we'll be very long,"

Lion Quinn nodded her head as she snapped her jaws angrily at Glinda's father for upsetting Izzy; making the man flinch.

Rachel just shook her head as she walked away.

"Popsical please, Elphaba loves me more than anyone I've ever been with," Glinda started.

"You have been with her? Have you no shame? No decency," Glinda's father said as her mother gasped.

"I love her,"

"Get out,"

"But,"

"I said Get OUT,"

"Popsical please,"

"GET OUT, all of you, you want to marry this green thing that will give you no future then go, leave, and don't come back, I will not give my blessing for this,"

"So be it, Father," Glinda said as she took Elphaba's hand and left.

"I mean it Galinda, you walk out that door and marry...IT, this family and its fortune will be gone to you,"

"What is a life of riches and popularity if there is no one to share it with? I'd rather be with Elphaba," Glinda said as she turned away, "Oh, and Father, it's Glinda, the gah is silent,"

When they got outside, Glinda tried hard to hold her tears back.

"I'm sorry my sweet," Elphaba started as she hugged the smaller blonde.

"Don't, I knew that there was a chance they'd say no, so," Glinda said as she hugged Elphaba back.

"But it's okay to cry,"

"Maybe later when we're alone,"

"Okay, but remember I'm here for you,"

"I know," Glinda smiled as she kissed Elphaba's lips softly.

"Ew, gross," Izzy said as Rachel laughed at her.

Lion Quinn just rolled her eyes.

"So, what are we going to do now?" the Lion asked.

"Well, we're here, would you like to see the more of the upper uplands?" Glinda asked.

"Yes please," Rachel said, "I mean, I'll probably never get the chance to again, so, yes please,"

"I want to roll down the hills, Quinn you'll roll down the hill with me right?" Izzy asked.

"Sure," Lion Quinn answered as the child squealed happily.

"And hey, now you don't have a Tin Man kicking your butt while you're rolling down the hill," Rachel teased.

"Oh shut up," Lion Quinn growled but laughed at the same time, "And if she wasn't cheating I would have won,"

"I'm sure you would have,"

As the group arrived at the hillside of the Upper Uplands, Izzy squealed again in delight as she jumped off Lion Quinn's back and ran through the grass as she observed some of the grass grazing creatures around them.

"She's a squealer," Lion Quinn said as she looked at Rachel.

"She's five," Rachel said back.

"Quinn come play with me," Izzy called out.

"Oh fine," the Lion said as she stalked the little girl through the grass.

On instinct she let out a roar as she pounced.

Izzy let out a scream as she ran.

The Lion was happily playing pounce with her.

"C'mon you two, time for some food," Elphaba called out.

"Aw, do we have to? I want to play," Izzy said but Lion Quinn picked her up with her teeth and carried the little girl to the other three, "Quinn, put me down,"

"Offay," Lion Quinn grunted as she dropped Izzy by Rachel.

"Hey,"

"Is for horses,"

"Huh?"

"Never mind,"

"So, when do you think you'll have the wedding?" Rachel asked as she bit into a vegan sandwich.

"Everything is more or less ready, I was just hoping that my parents would come," Glinda said.

"That's quick, where I'm from people take forever to set things up and get married, you did it in a day,"

"It's Oz, magic,"

Rachel laughed a bit, "So, when?"

"Day after tomorrow, Brittany plans to do the whole pardon of Elphaba first,"

"Oh, right,"

"I'm the flower girl," Izzy said happily.

"Yes you are," Glinda said with a smile.

"So, who are you going to get to walk you down the aisle?" Rachel asked.

"Well, I figured, perhaps the Wizard would walk me down after Elphaba,"

"I'm sure he'll say yes, he adores you and your bubbly nature," Elphaba laughed.

Glinda just smiled, "And then we rule the Emerald City with an iron fist," she said jokingly.

Again Elphaba let out a small laugh as she looked at Glinda and kissed her.

"Whatever happens next, we'll always have each other," Elphaba said to her.

"We're unlimited," Glinda said and Elphaba nodded her head in agreement.

Rachel was left sighing at this heart warming moment.


	26. Chapter 26

**AN:** Hey all, here it is.  
Just a **warning** this chapter will be a bit of a roller-coaster of emotions (at least to me it was while writing it). And it will **sad** at the end of it, so just a warning.

I will separate each event with a page divider.

I hope you'll enjoy chapter 26.

* * *

**Chapter 26:**

The trip back was as uneventful as the journey to the Upper Uplands. Except for the fact that Rachel slept this time.

When they arrived back at the castle it was just after lunch so they were given a quick meal before being told to change and get ready for court.

Izzy was made to go sit on the smaller throne next to her mother. She made a fuss about wanting Lion Quinn with her, but since Lion Quinn was neither a pet nor a royal anything, she couldn't. That made the little girl pout for a while until she caught a look from her mother, so she stopped and sat still, looking out at the audience they had.

"I call forth Elphaba Thropp," Ozma Brittany said as Elphaba stood forward in front of everyone, "There have been charges laid against Elphaba Thropp of Munchkinland for treason and crimes against Oz and her people, charges of cruelty and evil, may the one representing this claim speak their peace,"

"Your majesty, for years now this witch has been getting away with murder and destruction, she should be punished for what she has done," a farmer said.

"And who has she murdered? Was this in your sight or your assumption?"

"Uh, well, one hears stories your majesty,"

"If it is not an accusation of either yours or a kin's witnessing then it cannot be used,"

"But,"

"I deal with proof, prove to me that she murdered someone or do not present yourself at all, is the claims you are making for you or for the people?"

"I, the crops your majesty,"

"When?"

"About three and a half weeks ago,"

"Three and a half weeks ago? While Mombi was still alive and Rachel of Lima appeared?"

"Yes your majesty,"

"Then I can attest to you that Elphaba Thropp was with me at Kiamo Ko, I was there,"

"You were cohorting your majesty?"

"And what is it that you are suggesting? That I in my goodness would associate with an evil witch? Since I became Queen and had my power restored have I done anything to prove to you that I would resort to evil?"

"No, no your majesty,"

"So say to me again, what is your complaint?"

"I, she destroyed our crops, our livelihood, she terrorised us,"

"I see, again I ask, when?"

"Before you came back your majesty,"

"And is there anyone who will speak in her defense? Glinda may not as she will be seen as biased to many of you,"

For a moment no one said anything until someone stepped forward.

"I will your majesty," the man said as he took off his straw hat.

"Jenkinies?" the first farmer said in surprise and shock.

"It's my only chance to do what I should have," Jenkinies said as he looked at Ozma Brittany, "Your majesty I can attest to you that it was indeed not Elphaba who damaged our crop and hurt our people, I have seen it with my own eyes,"

"Proceed," Ozma Brittany said.

"On the day in question, I was taking a break and I heard two women cackling, I thought it suspicious, so I peeked over the edge, there in the hedge was Elphaba and Morrible, but something didn't seem right, Morrible kept calling her Mombi and saying that it was clever of her to disguise herself as the green one while terrorising people, I never said anything because no one would have believed me, but I believe that the real Elphaba Thropp is innocent your majesty,"

"You can think this over your majesty as the court awaits for your answer," Enforcer Puck said as he looked over the crowd.

Ozma Brittany thought for a moment before saying, "Elphaba Thropp of Munchkinland, do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Yes your majesty," Elphaba said.

"Then say it,"

"I'm innocent, I swear it on my life that I am, I was framed by Mombi and Morrible because I refused to follow their demands of taking Oz over, they swore that I would have evil entrusted upon me for going against them and that no one would believe me otherwise, since then I've helped who I could in the shadows,"

"Can anyone else give witness to your claim?"

"Yes, we can," the Mayor of China Town said as he walked forward, "Permission to add to the talks your majesty,"

"Granted," Ozma Brittany said.

"Miss Thropp has helped our town many times in our time of need, we have seen her, she also helped Beatlesville and the newer Animal Town that is being built, she is good your majesty, I swear that on my china head,"

Ozma Brittany was seen thinking before saying, "I decree that Elphaba Thropp be pardoned for any crime that Morrible claims that she has committed, I say to you all now that there is no evil in this woman and I have seen it myself, she is good, what you were told of her by the former Wizard and Morrible was a lie, and I can confirm with you all that Mombi was part of the reason why she was portrayed in such a bad light, Elphaba Thropp, you are pardoned of all crimes, go in freedom,"

The crowd chattered a bit before nodding their heads in agreement with the Queen as Glinda had tears in her eyes.

"Right, is there any other matter that I need to attend to?" Ozma Brittany asked as Enforcer Puck nodded his head.

"Yes your majesty, the matter of mayorage of the Emerald City," Enforcer Puck said, "The Wizard seeks your audience,"

"Okay, enter Wizard," Ozma Brittany said as the Wizard took his position, "Speak,"

"Your majesty, I'm old and I'm tired, all these years I have tried to serve Oz as the Wonderful Wizard, but I am too tired to keep going, the citizens need someone who they can trust, who can do what it is asked of them," the Wizard said.

"Was it not you Wizard who was the reason Elphaba was criminalised?" Ozma Brittany said. (Even though she knew the answer, she was just saying this for the benefit of the Ozians).

"Yes your majesty, and I deeply regret that, Elphaba was and is a gifted individual who deserves a chance to fly, if you get my meaning,"

"I do, so what is your request?"

"I ask, your majesty, that Elphaba Thropp and Glinda Upland be the two to serve Oz through the Emerald City as the city's mayors,"

Ozma Brittany looked like she was thinking before she said, "So be it, Elphaba Thropp and Glinda Upland are henceforth asked to lead the Emerald City, do you two agree to take responsibility?"

"We do your majesty," Glinda and Elphaba said at the same time.

The court in general, including some of the citizens of the Emerald City nodded their heads.

"The Queen has decreed what she needed to for the day, all the hail the Queen," Enforcer Puck said as everyone cheered and Ozma Brittany and Izzy stood up and left the throne room.

Once everyone was gone, Izzy happily ran up to Lion Quinn again and cuddled into the Lion's head, who was purring happily with a bit of her tongue sticking out again.

"Quinn, my Lion," Izzy said as she hugged Lion Quinn's head.

"Your Lion?" Ozma Brittany asked as she placed a hand on her daughter's head.

"Yeah,"

Lion Quinn could be heard rumbling as the little girl was patting the big Lion's head.

"Come, let's all go, we have a wedding to finish last minute preparations for, I don't know about you, but I can't wait," Ozma Brittany said with a smile.

"Me neither," Izzy said as she jumped into her mother's arms.

* * *

The next day the castle was abuzz as everyone was preparing for the wedding.

Ozma Brittany was happy holding the event at the castle, knowing that it would be a sad day the following day as Glinda and Elphaba would go somewhere together for a honeymoon then go straight to the Emerald City to begin their new roles.

And of course Rachel was due to leave.

"Quinn, have you seen where my headband is?" Rachel asked as she searched through the room.

The Lion was already changed and ready to go. She was wearing a black and white tuxedo.

"Oh Quinn you look so dapper," Rachel said as she combed the Lion's mane.

"But everyone's going to think I'm a boy," Lion Quinn grumbled.

"You chose the outfit, so I don't know why you're complaining,"

"I didn't realise I'd look this much like a boy,"

Rachel laughed before saying, "Right, headband, have you seen it?"

Lion Quinn raised an eyebrow at her.

"What?" Rachel asked.

"Really?" Lion Quinn said.

"What?"

"You don't at all feel your hair being pulled back into a headache inducing fashion?"

"I'm wearing it aren't I?"

Lion Quinn nodded her head at her.

Rachel watched as Lion Quinn stood on her hind legs making her quite tall. She held out her paw for Rachel to take as the two walked down the stairs and to the castle's chapel.

As everyone gathered together in the castle, Rachel went off to find Elphaba to help her prepare to walk down the aisle and Lion Quinn went to find Glinda.

Tin Man Santana and Enforcer Puck were standing on opposite sides of the altar guarding the ceremony that was about to take place.

Ozma Brittany was going to officiate it, as it was Glinda's request that she do so.

Soon it was time for the ceremony to start.

Izzy giggled gleefully as she skipped down the aisle throwing white and red rose petals on the ground in front of her.

Next was Lion Quinn and Rachel, walking down the aisle arm in arm. Smiling at everyone who were gathered there.

Elphaba entered first with the Wizard walking her down the aisle with a proud look on his face. Elphaba herself was wearing a white simple gown, simple was always her way, but it was quite flattering on her and people couldn't help but awe at it.

The Wizard lead her to the altar, smiled at her and bowed before walking back down to get Glinda.

As he walked Glinda down the aisle, Elphaba felt tears fall from her face. She was happy, really and truly happy, and life it seemed was finally turning out right for her.

Ozma Brittany smiled as she started the ceremony, "Fellow Ozians, we are here today to join in holy matrimony Elphaba Thropp and Glinda Upland in marriage," she said as the two women smiled at each other.

Lion Quinn sniffed a bit as Rachel looked up at her, "You okay?" she whispered quickly.

"Yeah, just, um, dust in my eye," Lion Quinn answered as Rachel patted her paw.

"Do you Glinda Upland take this woman to be your magically and lawfully wedded wife for as long as you both shall live? For richer, for poorer? In sickness and in health and until death do you part?" Ozma Brittany asked Glinda.

"I do," Glinda said happily as her tears fell freely, thank god for waterproof make-up.

"And do you Elphaba Thropp take this woman to be your magically and lawfully wedded wife for as long as you both shall live? For richer, for poorer? In sickness and in health and until death do you part?"

"I most definitely do," Elphaba said with a smile.

"Does anyone have any reason why these two should not marry? Speak now or forever hold your peace," Ozma Brittany said.

"I object," Glinda's Father roared as he marched in.

"Stand your ground where you are and speak your peace, and if I deem it fitting I shall not proceed with this union, now speak your peace,"

"She can't marry that thing,"

"For what reason?"

"Because I do not approve,"

"For what reason?"

"Look, you're a young lass,"

"Do not bring age into this Upland, I am older than you think and wiser than your years, now speak your peace or I shall arrest you, not only for ruining what was a wonderful ceremony, but for pushing past the guards and trespassing to an event you were not really invited to,"

"Your grace,"

"Do not patronise me Upland, now speak your peace, why can these two not marry?"

"Glinda is engaged to someone else,"

"I see, who?"

"To Chuffery,"

"I most certainly am not," Glinda said angrily, "You are just saying that because I'm marrying someone I want and not someone you want,"

"Absurd," Glinda's father started.

"Mr Upland," Ozma Brittany started.

"It's Lord,"

"I shall give you no such respect or title unless you earn it, now speak the truth or this day may be your last, is Glinda really engaged to Chuffery? And did she consent to it?"

"I, no, no your grace,"

"So say to me again, what is your peace?"

"I do not approve of her marrying beneath our family,"

"That does not hold, so I shall not take you into consideration,"

"Stupid,"

"You are the stupid one, you dare question the Queen of Oz,"

"I,"

"You do not realise the gravity of the situation you have found yourself in," Ozma Brittany said as she started to glow with her blue aura, showing part of her power and authority, making Glinda's father shake a bit as he realised who he was up against, "Guards take him away,"

The Tin Men stepped forward and arrested Glinda's father as commanded, angry that they had to miss part of the wedding now thanks to him.

"So, with that irritating matter settled, since there is no real cause for you two not to be married, I pronounce you spouses, you may kiss your bride," Ozma Brittany said with a smile as she stepped back and let Glinda and Elphaba share a sweet kiss to the cheer of the crowd.

As the evening progressed everyone was having fun as they danced, laughed and joked at the reception.

They watched as the two women shared their first dance as a married couple and they laughed and cried at the wedding toasts.

Lion Quinn danced first with Rachel then she danced with Izzy.

Eventually the night drew to a close as everyone retired to their rooms.

Rachel wanted to say goodbye to Elphaba and Glinda first, but they told her that they'd be there in the morning to see her off.

She smiled sadly at them as she hugged them.

Lion Quinn moved up to her legs once she let the two women go, and rubbed her head against Rachel's leg.

"Oh Quinn," Rachel sighed sadly as the two retired to their room.

Lion Quinn jumping onto the bed so she could cuddle up to the brunette one last time.

* * *

As the morning rose, Rachel was nervous. Breakfast was incredibly quiet and the mood was dull.

Even Izzy didn't make a comment.

Rachel wanted it as a quiet affair so it was just Lion Quinn, Tin Man Santana, Elphaba, Glinda, Izzy and of course Ozma Brittany who were there to say goodbye to her.

As the group went to the courtyard, tears were starting to fall from her face as she hugged everyone tightly and told them all how much she'd miss them.

"I don't want to leave but I know it's my time to go," Rachel said as she broke down and cried.

Ozma Brittany gave her a hug, "You are a wonderful friend to have and I know that when you get home, people will start to see you differently and perhaps treasure you more,"

"You think?"

"Yes,"

"See ya munchkin, thanks, you know, for being my friend and all that," Tin Man Santana said as she hugged Rachel tight, "You take care of yourself now,"

"You too, I'm going to miss watching your kick butt fights with Quinn,"

"Hey, she can't stick my head in a tree anymore, too dangerous,"

Rachel laughed as Izzy jumped into her arms and hugged her tight.

"I'll miss you Rachel," Izzy said, "You're a cool person,"

"I'm going to miss you too Izzy, you be good for your mommy, okay," Rachel said as she sniffed away tears.

"Okay,"

Next was Elphaba.

"Thank you Rachel, for being here and helping us," Elphaba said as she hugged Rachel.

"I'm still sorry about Nessarose," Rachel said as she hugged Elphaba back.

"Not much you can do, it was all Morrible and Mombi's doing, so,"

"I guess, take care okay,"

"You too,"

"Well Rachel from Lima, thank you so much for everything," Glinda said as she hugged Rachel tightly.

"You're Glin-tastic Glinda," Rachel said with a smile as she hugged the blonde.

"You take care in that world of yours okay,"

"I'll try,"

"And if you can, visit us sometime,"

"If I find a way that won't involve me getting injured, sure,"

Everyone laughed at that as Rachel pulled away from the blonde and looked at Lion Quinn.

"Hey Quinn," Rachel said as she hugged the Lion, "I'm going to miss you,"

"Rachel, please, don't leave me," Lion Quinn said as tears fell from her face.

"I have to get home," Rachel said sadly as she hugged the sobbing Lion tighter.

"You're leaving me how you met me," the Lion laughed a bit.

Rachel laughed too.

"I want you to stay," Lion Quinn said.

"I can't Quinn, this isn't my World," Rachel said.

"But, I love you, I can feel it,"

"And you will find the me of this World, she will be here somewhere for you Quinn,"

"But, she, what if I don't,"

"A part of me was meant to find you Quinn, and the me of this World, she will find you, trust that,"

Lion Quinn just nodded her head but didn't let her go yet.

"Quinn, she might be an Animal too, you know, another Lion," Rachel added as she stroked Lion Quinn's head.

"It doesn't matter to me,"

"Quinn, you have to let me go,"

"No,"

"Quinn, please, I have to go home,"

"I can come with you, maybe I can be turned human?"

"But then you won't be true to yourself, you're a Lion Quinn, that's who you are,"

"Then I'll go with you as a Lion,"

"You have to abide by the rules of the World you're in Quinn, in my world you'll be a lion with no voice and more animal instinct than human ability, and you will age horribly, remember, once you go beyond Oz's borders you will age as you were supposed to,"

"I guess, but I,"

"Quinn, please, you have to let me go,"

The Lion looked at her before slowly letting her go. Tears pouring down her face.

Rachel kissed the tip of Lion Quinn's nose as she looked at her sadly before stepping away, taking in one final look at them all.

"I will miss you all, truly," Rachel said as she looked at them.

Lion Quinn roared sadly as she tried to step forward, only to have Glinda hold her back. The Lion looked up at Glinda before looking at Rachel.

"Goodbye everyone," the brunette said as she clicked her heels three times and whispered "There's No Place Like Home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home,"

And as Rachel disappeared from Oz, Lion Quinn roared out in pain as she ran.

"Quinn!" Izzy cried as she tried to run after the Lion but was caught by Tin Man Santana.

The Lion didn't know where she was going to go, but she kept running and soon disappeared from view.

No one saw her again, at least, for now.

* * *

**AN 2: **So, there we go. Next chapter is Rachel back home again.  
And for those of you wondering about the people in Oz, don't worry, we will get back to them eventually.


	27. Chapter 27

**AN:** So, here is the second to last chapter of the story. It'll focus on Rachel and her being back home.

Hope you'll enjoy Chapter 27.

* * *

**Chapter 27:**

"Look, she's waking up," a bubbly voice said as Rachel slowly opened her eyes.

Her head was throbbing and her body ached, but at least her feet felt clean and free of the shoes.

"Brittany?" she asked.

"Yay, you can remember me," the bubbly voice said as Rachel's eyes finally focused and she saw four familiar faces in front of her.

"Oh baby are you okay?" Shelby asked as she put a hand softly on Rachel's head as Santana and Quinn just kept silent and looked at her.

"I had the weirdest dream, and you were there, and you, and you, and you," Rachel said.

"Only Streisand would end up quoting some musical after waking up," Santana muttered as Brittany smacked her arm and Quinn snorted a bit.

"Hey, lay off my daughter," Shelby said, looking down at Rachel, "And Oz was a good movie, thank you,"

"I'm back home now right? In Lima?" Rachel asked.

"You never left Lima, you've always been here,"

"Shelby?"

"Yes, I'm right here,"

"My head hurts,"

"You had an accident on the stage, you fell,"

"I did?"

"Yes, you hit your head,"

"Would explain the throbbing,"

"You're okay now though? Right?" Brittany asked.

"Yeah, how'd I fall?" Rachel asked.

"You tripped over Finn's feet because he got in the way again, or rather because he span you the wrong way and you tripped over his feet, I managed to catch you, but not before you hit your head on the way down,"

"Thanks Brittany,"

"No problem,"

"Seriously, next time we do dance, I'm never, ever, going near Finn again, it's the second I'm in hospital because of him,"

"So true, he broke your nose last time didn't he?" Santana said.

"He, did, WHAT," Shelby asked angrily.

"Shelby it was an accident, he's just, really clumsy," Rachel said.

"Doesn't Will give him extra lessons or anything? Why is he still in your Club?"

"He's the lead singer, who's a guy, and trust me, Mr Schue tried,"

Shelby just huffed.

"I have a question for you Shelby, what are you doing here?" Rachel asked.

"Oh, I was just coming in to watch you," Shelby started.

"That's not allowed," Quinn said.

"Says the girl who was spying with Rachel and Mercedes at a Vocal Adrenaline practice?"

"I, damn it,"

"Exactly, I just wanted to see how you were doing Rachel, I came in just as you fell off the stage,"

"Oh, okay," Rachel said as she looked up at everyone again.

"Your Dads have been called, they're on their way in to see you,"

"Okay, I'm glad you're here though,"

Shelby just smiled at her, "So, where did you go?"

"I was in Oz," Rachel said.

"Oh, and who was I?" Shelby asked.

"How do you know you were there?" Santana asked as she shot a look at Shelby.

"Because when she woke up she pointed at all of us,"

"Oh, right,"

"Oh Sanny your memory is worse than mine sometimes," Brittany giggled.

"Oh shush," Santana said as she looked away slightly embarrassed.

"So, who was I?" Shelby asked.

"Elphaba," Rachel answered.

"Really?"

"Yeah, and you were really green, did you know you look like Idina Menzel?"

"Neat, and yes, I've heard that before, do you know how annoying it is when people run up to me and ask for my autograph and I have to tell them I'm not Idina? Oh the hurt on their face, it's why I like Lima,"

Rachel giggled a bit as Quinn place a hand on hers.

Rachel looked up at her with a small and curious smile.

"I wanna know who we were," Brittany smiled at Rachel.

But before the other three who were in the room with her, and Rachel had yet to ask why they were even there, could hear her answer, Rachel's Dads had arrived so everyone else disappeared from the room.

"We'll find out later," Quinn said as everyone went out.

Eventually Rachel was cleared to go home. She left the hospital in bare feet.

"Rachel, you should wear shoes," Hiram said as he laughed at his daughter skipping carefree out of the hospital.

"No thank you, they were stuck in ruby slippers for about a month, I'm letting them breathe," Rachel said as she skipped to the car.

Hiram shot LeRoy a confused look as they unlocked the car and watched Rachel jump in.

As they drove home, Rachel looked out the window as she watched the buildings go by before seeing the trees that would lead up to her family's house.

When home, Rachel got out of the car and took in a deep breath.

She was home.

She wondered what everyone else was doing in Oz, and yet, she wasn't even sure if Oz was real. She sighed.

She missed everyone, as her parents opened the door Rachel walked inside and looked at all the pictures.

"Rachel?" Hiram asked.

"Oh, um, is it okay if I go lie down in the yard outside?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, sure, just relax, okay sweetie?"

"Okay Daddy,"

Rachel went outside to lie down and stare at the clouds that were moving slowly across the sky.

She sighed as time passed slowly by.

"Penny for your thoughts?" a voice asked.

Rachel looked up and was surprised at who was in front of her, "Quinn?"

"Yeah, hi," she said as she sat down next to Rachel, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I, what are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd come and visit you, your Dads let me in, though they did glare at me first, I had to give them a speech as to how I was attempting to behave better, even though I'm back on the Cheerios, and that I genuinely wanted to see if you were okay,"

Rachel laughed, "How'd you do? What was your grade?"

"I got an A, almost an A minus, but I got through,"

Rachel smiled as she sat up, "Thanks for coming Quinn, but I have to wonder why? It's not like we're close friends,"

"I know, but I felt like I should, you know?"

"I guess,"

"You are okay though right?"

"Don't worry this won't affect us at our competitions,"

"I really couldn't care less about competitions, I really want to know if you're actually okay,"

"Oh, okay, well, I'm fine, just enjoying the outdoors,"

The two were quiet for a moment, it was awkward, Rachel missed Lion Quinn, the Lion always had a way of just relaxing her.

"So, who was I?" Quinn asked after sometime.

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked.

"In your dream, in Oz,"

"Oh, Cowardly Lion, you were too afraid to be yourself, so you tried to be tough, but really, you were just so scared, all the time,"

"Oh,"

"But you became really brave, you even stood up to your father, well, in the dream anyway,"

"I did?"

"Yeah, you told him to go away,"

"Wow,"

"Oz was a nice place, and the meadows, it was peaceful there, even if we did have to fight against Mombi and Morrible,"

Quinn smiled, "So, tell me, what were we like?"

"Well, Santana was the Tin Man, she claimed she had no heart, but she really did, she had a tough exterior, but felt hollow because life sucked, and deep down she was caring especially of Brittany, she was married to this girl named Dani who died, oh and she was turned back to her human form because she was cursed;  
Brittany was the Scarecrow, she portrays that she's brainless and dances through life but truly she has a lot of clever and wise things to say, oh and she was Ozma the true fairy Queen of Oz, it was awesome watching her get her powers back, she's ruling now as their benevolent Queen,"

"Sounds like something Brittany could be,"

"Yeah, it was an amazing place, Finn was a munchkin,"

"Oh my god, really?" Quinn burst out laughing as Rachel laughed hard too.

"Yeah, oh and Mr Schue was Fiyero?"

"Was he with Elphaba in the end?"

"Nope, Elphaba and Glinda got married, Tin Man Santana, well, she and Enforcer Puck became Ozma Brittany's bodyguards, oh and Izzy, Brittany's daughter in Oz was so cute, she loved Lion you,"

"Really? So, what else is there to know about me?"

"You were in love with me," Rachel said without thinking.

Quinn just froze.

"But, it can't be how you feel though, right?" Rachel said, "It was just a dream,"

"Yeah, just a dream," Quinn stammered, "I mean, you said that Glinda and Elphaba ended up together, that doesn't happen in the books, movie or stage production,"

"You watched and read The Wizard of Oz and Wicked?"

"Yeah, you talked about them so much,"

"But, how'd you know about the Gelphie pairing?"

"Oh please, the chemistry between the two was obvious, and the stage production, well, I suppose it had something to do with the actresses but still,"

Rachel smiled as she lay back down and looked up at the clouds.

"So, are you okay if I hang out here with you?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah, sure, I mean it'll be boring because I'm cloud gazing, but sure," Rachel answered as she looked up at Quinn.

Quinn smiled as she lay down next to Rachel and cuddled up to her, draping one arm over the brunette's stomach so she could rest her head just under Rachel's chest.

To say Rachel was stunned was an understatement, but she didn't say anything as she softly put a hand on Quinn's head to caress her hair.

Quinn let out a satisfied sound as Rachel looked at her, she reminded her of the Lion, even the sound she was making was reminisce of the Lion.

After about fifteen minutes though Rachel couldn't help but ask, "Um, Quinn, are you purring?"

Quinn didn't say anything, she just kept resting peacefully.

* * *

The following day at school, Rachel ducked and weaved in and out of the students around her as she carried her books in her arms.

She was surprised to see Quinn at her locker waiting for her.

"Good morning Quinn," Rachel said.

"Hi Rachel," Quinn answered with a smile.

"So, what can I do for you?"

"Uh, Rachel, I uh, would like to go out with me? You know, to see a movie or something?" Quinn asked in a stammer.

Rachel's eyes widened with surprise as she shook her head and rubbed her eyes to see if she was dreaming, "Say what?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me?"

"Yeah, okay," Rachel said with a smile.

"I mean, it can be as friends but I'd like it to be a gateway date,"

Rachel gaped for a moment.

"I don't want to be the Cowardly Lion, you know, so I figured I'd just ask, and I, I'm, I'm tired of being a coward so I just want to ask, and I, I'll stop talking now,"

Rachel giggled a bit before saying, "Oh Quinn, you're not cowardly, besides, I loved that Cowardly Lion, she was so funny, and her tail, oh and her mane, she was so soft and warm and cuddly,"

"Hey, no falling in love with dream characters,"

Rachel laughed, "How about we go out as friends this time and see how things go from there?"

"Sounds like a plan, I'll pick you up at eight this Friday?"

"Yeah,"

"Q, can I talk to you please," Santana asked as Quinn nodded her head.

"I'll stay with Rachie," Brittany said as Santana nodded her head at her and walked off to talk with Quinn, "So, how was Oz?"

"It was great, just sad that it's a dream though," Rachel answered.

"It wasn't a dream,"

"Huh?"

"I've been there too,"

"You have?"

"Yes, it was a beautiful place, I remember it well,"

"Have you ever gone back?"

"I can't,"

"Why?"

"Because the rules of magic sadly forbid it,"

"Can I go back?"

"I don't know, maybe,"

Brittany looked up and saw Santana waving at her.

"I have to go," she said to Rachel.

"Brittany are you sure the place wasn't just in my head?" Rachel asked, "I mean I want to believe it was real, but some parts, I mean, what if it's a dream or just in my head and I...,"

"Okay, I know I'm stealing this quote from Harry Potter, but just because it was in your head doesn't mean it wasn't real, or something like that,"

"I guess,"

Before Brittany could go though, Rachel had to ask.

"Brittany, I have to know, when were you there? Why haven't I heard of you there?" Rachel asked.

"You probably have but I had a different name and a different life that was stolen from me?"

"Really?"

"Yes,"

"Who were you? What was your life?"

Brittany gave her a mysterious smile, "I'll let you figure it out, but I will say this, leaving one's child behind is never easy, nor is dying and realising that you can never go back and see them again, but you learn to cope, the memories, while bittersweet are what you hold on to as you look to the future in the world you're stuck in," Brittany said as she looked at Rachel, "I'm sure Ozzy is okay, she has great friends, and I'm sure you helped her a lot before you had to return here,"

Rachel gaped as she looked at Brittany, she never told the blonde anything about Oz like she did with Quinn. Nor did she mention any names other than that Shelby was Elphaba.

"Brittany?" Rachel started.

"There's a lot of magic in this world Rachel Berry, some people just choose not to see it because it's weird," Brittany said as she started walking away to catch up with Santana, leaving Rachel with an odd feeling that she just met Lurline.

"Why have you got such a perplexed look on your face?" Quinn asked as she approached Rachel.

"You wouldn't believe me, even if I told you," Rachel smiled, "What did Santana want?"

"She just wants to make sure I'm sure that I want to date you, which I said yes, so she said that as much as she finds you annoying, she'll have my back,"

"So, no more slushies?"

"Not if I can help it,"

Rachel smiled at that as Quinn leaned down and kissed her softly.

"What about Glee Club?" Rachel asked.

"I don't care, they can think whatever they want, as long as I have you I don't care what anyone thinks anymore,"

"That's very brave of you Quinn,"

Quinn smiled as she waited for Rachel to close her locker before taking the brunette's hand and walking her to her first class.

"Rachel, stop humming 'Follow the Yellowbrick Road'," Quinn laughed.

"Never," Rachel giggled as she started singing away to herself.

Quinn smiled, she was happy, happier than she'd ever been in a very long time.

And Rachel, well, she was happy too.

* * *

**AN 2:** So ends Rachel's journey, next chapter will be the last one and we will be back in Oz so you can see what's happened with everyone.


	28. Chapter 28

**AN:** To everyone who has read this far. I just wanted to say **Thank You** very much for reading this story.

I do apologise for the typos, I reread the chapters each time, but sometimes you just end up missing a couple of things and it's annoying when I look back at the work and realise that sometimes I mistyped something or a word is missing, so apologies for those and thanks for putting up with them.

To all the reviewers, thank you, you guys/gals have really made my day with every review you've posted up, and I do mean it.

To everyone who favourited and followed this story, thank you very much, it's nice to see that there are people who appreciate the work.

To all the people who just decided to keep reading, thank you very much as well. It's great to see you continue to read the story up to its end.

It's sad to see this story come to an end but all things must come to an end someday.

I hope you all will enjoy this **final** chapter as we enter back into Oz again; but firstly we will start in the Glee World before heading into Oz (a reviewer requested a bit more of the 'real'/Glee world and I eventually had a plot that stuck in my head because of it).

Oh, and I forgot to say in the last chapter, I hope you all liked the twist with Brittany - Lol.

From the bottom of my heart, again, **thank you everyone** for journeying with me to** the end** of this story.

I hope you will enjoy this **final** chapter.

Kind Regards,

Dante Andy Anderson

* * *

**Chapter 28:**

_Glee World_

"For the ten millionth time I am NOT Lion Quinn, I do NOT have a tail hidden under my Cheerio skirt and if you ask me if I have anything hidden between my legs or under my skirt again I'll kick your munchkin," Quinn growled as Finn took a step back and crossed his legs as Rachel started laughing along with Brittany and a snickering Santana, "And no, I do not have a mane and I do not turn into a Lion either,"

It had a been about a week now since Rachel's return from Oz, or waking up from her fall…..you get the point, and by this time everyone in Glee Club had finally heard her tale of her time in Oz. They laughed when Rachel recounted the tale of Tin Man Santana and Lion Quinn fighting, they aww'd at the times when Tin Man Santana was found to be incredibly cute with the then Scarecrow Brittany, Kurt squealed when she told them about the Wedding between Glinda and Elphaba; and everyone aww'd again when Rachel told them the interactions between Lion Quinn and Izzy.

Of course in the end, the only two people who believed she actually went to Oz were Brittany and Finn, Quinn was on the fence about it, Santana thought she was nuts.

Anyway, ever since telling the tale of her adventures; and of course she and Quinn were now dating; Finn would always look over at the new couple, and no, it wasn't because of what people thought. He actually liked the fact that Quinn and Rachel got together and no, it was not because it was some boyish fantasy. He actually genuinely thought that they suited each other quite well, in fact, he jumped on the Faberry bandwagon the moment Brittany came up with a name for the couple.

Currently the five were in the choir room waiting for everyone else to arrive, so Finn started again on his whole, Lion Quinn tirade. He thought it was awesome that Quinn was a Lion and always said so every time he saw her, much to her annoyance. After that loud growl at Finn, Quinn stomped over to Rachel in a huff and cuddled up to her girlfriend, "Why does everyone keep calling me the Lion Quinn?" she grumbled.

"You seriously don't see it?" Rachel asked deadpanned as she stroked the top of Quinn's head.

"No," Quinn pouted.

"She's such a fuzzball sometimes," Santana teased.

"I am not a fuzzball," Quinn snapped back.

"You are, you act like a Lion all the time, especially recently with Rachel,"

"I do not,"

"Furball, Fuzzball, whatever, you still act like a Lion sometimes, and the hair,"

"I am not a Lion,"

"Could have fooled me furball,"

"Oh that's it," Quinn said as she jumped at Santana.

"Whoa, hey, idiot, get your paws off me," Santana growled as the two tumbled and play fought.

"Oh, Quinn's winning," Brittany said as she sat down next to Rachel and handed the brunette a soda from her backpack.

"Can I have one too?" Finn asked as Brittany gave him a can of soda. She seemed to be on a soda bend today, yesterday it was crisps that she stowed away in her bag.

"Nope, I think Santana is winning now," Rachel said as the two watched Santana over power Quinn.

"Wow, chick fight, funny," Finn laughed as Quinn and Santana kept tumbling over each other as Puck walked into the choir room.

"Hey, chick fight," Puck leered as Rachel threw the not yet opened can at his head, "Ow, Jew Babe, that hurt,"

"Good, it was supposed to," she said as Quinn managed to pin Santana to the ground.

"Get off me you fuzzball," Santana's voice strained.

"Take back the fuzzball and furball comment," Quinn said.

"No,"

"Take it back, I'm not a Lion,"

"No, get off,"

"Say Uncle,"

"NO,"

"Fine, then I'll leave you pinned in this very uncomfortable position for hours, you know I will,"

"Okay, okay, I give, you're not a fuzzball or a furball or a Lion, uncle, Uncle, UNCLE,"

Quinn gave a satisfied smirk as she walked up to Rachel who raised her eyebrow at the blonde and said, "You seriously don't see it?"

"Nope," Quinn said as she subconsciously nuzzled up to Rachel and the brunette put her arms around the blonde.

"Quinn, you act like a Lion sometimes and your hair can get all wild like a mane," Brittany said.

"Oh, okay,"

"Wait, wait, wait, you're okay with Brittany comparing you to a Lion and you get bat crazy at the rest of us if we say so?" Santana asked in very annoyed tone as she got up and dusted her cheerio skirt and walked up to Brittany so that the blonde would hug her.

"Well, only her and Rachel," Quinn said.

"Crazy woman,"

Brittany looked at Rachel who had a sad look cross her face, "Hey what's wrong?" she asked.

"I just, I miss Oz, I miss Lion Quinn, I feel so bad for leaving her behind," Rachel said as Quinn looked at her.

"You feel bad for a Lion?" Quinn asked.

"No, I feel bad for the you in Oz, Lion Quinn was exactly like you and she was hurt so bad through her whole life, and me leaving, I just feel so bad,"

"She will find the you of that world, trust that," Brittany said as she patted Rachel's shoulder.

"I guess so,"

"Believe me, things have a way of panning out, they always do, especially in Oz,"

"Okay, you were the former Queen of Oz, so, I trust you,"

But before anyone else could say anything, Mr Schuester entered the room, "Okay everyone, dance positions,"

"OH GOD, SAVE ME FROM FINN," Rachel squealed incredibly loudly as she ducked behind Quinn making everyone laugh as they entered the choir room.

"Hey, I improved," Finn started, "Sorta,"

"Okay, if you really believe I'm like that Lion Quinn, let me bring out the Lion," Quinn started as she glared at Finn, "If you hurt my girlfriend in any way, shape or form, I will end you, starting with your munchkin, okay?!"

Finn gulped as everyone laughed at him.

"You're safe now Rachel," Quinn said as she nuzzled up to Rachel.

"Thank you Quinn," Rachel said with a smile as she kissed Quinn's cheek.

Quinn just kept smiling.

* * *

_Oz World_

Meanwhile back in Oz, it was still just after the time that Rachel had disappeared and Lion Quinn had run away and into the woods, Izzy started to cry.

"Oh Izzy it's okay," Ozma Brittany said as she picked up her daughter and patted her back.

"I want Quinn to come back," Izzy cried.

"I know, I know, but you have to give her time, she's just hurting because Rachel had to go home,"

Izzy sniffed as Tin Man Santana sighed, softly touching the child's hair.

"Hey, we should probably get going too," Elphaba said as Glinda looked up at her and smiled, "We won't have much time before we're off to officially start working as the mayors of the Emerald City, so, you know,"

"You're leaving us too?" Izzy asked sadly.

"Just for our honeymoon, we will come backwards and forwards between the Emerald City and the Castle when we need to,"

"Trust me, you don't want to be there for the honeymoon," Tin Man Santana said as Ozma Brittany whacked her arm, "Ow,"

"You deserve it," she said to her.

"Mommy, when will Quinn come back?" Izzy asked.

"I don't know, we just have to give her time, okay,"

"Okay,"

"Let's go inside, you can play a game with Santana,"

"Okay,"

Ozma Brittany smiled a little as everyone went back inside the castle.

Lion Quinn on the other hand kept running until she reached the forest. She wasn't sure how long she was running for, but she didn't care.

When her body started to feel tired she began to walk as she looked around.

She was completely alone now.

Tears were streaming down her face as she kept walking. It hurt. Being left alone again.

Her family had abandoned her, and her new friends, they were doing their own thing. And she just didn't want to be around them, to remember that while she was there she wasn't really part of the family, just the friend on the outskirts.

She wanted Rachel back.

She wanted that feeling of mattering to someone, of having someone who loved her back.

Lion Quinn let out a pained and angry roar that was so loud it made the area around her shudder and the birds to fly scared out of the trees.

As she got to a small clearing, she went and lay by the rock and shuddered as she cried.

People in the nearby areas could hear her roaring in pain and sadness, and those who happened to be walking passed didn't bother to ask her if she was okay, they just kept walking.

"She's a Lion, she's big enough to look after herself through whatever it is she's going through," they'd often say.

"She's a Lion, and she's dangerous and terrifying, better not cross her," others would say.

But Lion Quinn wasn't okay, and she was tired of people never asking because they thought she'd be fine on her own.

At least with Rachel she felt that someone cared enough to ask, the brunette always wanted to make sure she was okay.

After some time the sobs subsided, though she was still crying as she curled into a ball. Sniffing as she gazed at nothing in particular.

She heard pitter patter of footsteps but ignored them, they were tiny so she didn't bother with them.

"Why are you crying? Are you okay?" a small voice asked making the Big Cat jump in shock and roar, since she didn't expect anyone to actually talk to her.

The voice belonged to a small body that had raced up the tree and clung onto it for dear life.

Lion Quinn let out a huff as she wiped her tears and moved toward the tree she knew the body ran up.

She sat underneath it as the voice said to her, "I'm sorry, please don't eat me,"

Lion Quinn looked up to see a small Panther looking back at her, she was definitely an Animal and she reminded her of…Rachel.

Lion Quinn had a small smile appear, "Rachel?" she said softly.

"How'd you know my name?" Panther Rachel asked looking back at her.

Lion Quinn motioned for her to come back down and the Panther did so.

"You won't eat me right?" the Panther asked as she slowly moved back down as the Lion shook her head.

Slowly Panther Rachel climbed down from the tree and gracefully landed next to Lion Quinn.

"Hi, I'm Quinn," Lion Quinn said as she looked at the Panther and sat down on the ground next to her.

"Hi, nice to met you, I'm Rachel," Panther Rachel said as she sat next to Lion Quinn, "How'd you know my name?"

"I was on an adventure with the human version of you, her name was Rachel Berry, she helped us against the Wizard and Mombi and Morrible, although we did find out the Wizard was frozen for a while," Lion Quinn answered, "That's how I know your name,"

"Ah, I see, and I know about the frozen thing, I was frozen," Panther Rachel answered.

"You were?" Lion Quinn asked as she looked shocked.

"Yeah, quite a few of us Animals were, we posed a threat to Mombi and Morrible so they froze us, Elphaba tried to save us but couldn't, we don't blame her, my Daddies were frozen with me,"

"What's it like to be frozen?"

"I can't quite explain it, it's like you're asleep for a long time, and yet you're awake, we don't age in there, but you know, I was a newer catch along with my Daddies, I'm glad that I didn't stay there too long, unlike some of the poor souls who were caught many years earlier,"

"Ah," Lion Quinn said as she emitted a pleased rumbling sound as she got up and brushed up against Panther Rachel. The smaller Cat didn't quite know to react to this, usually most other beings would run away from her; even growing up as a cub, Panther Rachel would be left to her own vices because her peers were put off by her. So to actually have another creature who seemed to be interested in her was intriguing and deep down she felt something stir in her because of it.

"You should come with me to Animal Town, we still have to think up a better name, but a lot of Animals are settling there, you'll love it," Panther Rachel said.

"You think?" Lion Quinn asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah,"

"I, yeah, I'll come with you, as long as you're okay with me going back to Ozma's Castle, there's a little girl there who loves to play with me,"

"That sounds okay, may I come,"

"Yes,"

Lion Quinn smiled as she pawed at Panther Rachel's body and rubbed her head against her side.

The Panther didn't get to say anything else as Lion Quinn drew her into a hug and purred. Nuzzling her head against the smaller Cat's head.

Panther Rachel had no idea what to do so she just leaned in and purred too.

"My Rachel," Lion Quinn said as she licked the top of Rachel's head.

"Your Rachel?" Panther Rachel asked.

"Only if you want to be,"

"I'd like to see where this goes, I mean, I've never had anyone who was interested in me like you are,"

Lion Quinn just smiled.

"And, I, well, I know you like this other Rachel of yours, just remember I'm not her, I," Panther Rachel said.

"I know, and trust me I won't, you deserve better than that," Lion Quinn said.

"You understand what I mean?"

"Of course I do, you don't want to get hurt if I end up liking you because I'm substituting you for someone else, but I'm not,"

"Okay,"

Lion Quinn nudged Rachel over playfully as she rubbed her nose against the Panther's soft belly.

"Quinn?!" Panther Rachel said in annoyance yet in a certain level of playfulness.

"C'mon, you have to show me that town, and then, I guess we'll head back to Ozma's Castle, I better let everyone know I'm okay," Lion Quinn said as she and Rachel got up.

"Sounds like a plan," Panther Rachel said as she got up and Lion Quinn took her paw in hers.

The Panther started humming as the two started to make their way to Animal Town.

"Rachel, quit humming 'Follow the Yellowbrick Road'," Lion Quinn said with a roar and laughter as Panther Rachel smirked at her.

"Never," the Panther said as she kissed the tip of the Lion's nose and nuzzled into her as the two continued their walk to Animal Town.

**The End.**


End file.
